The fatal injuries to mother-of-two Lisa Thompson, who was strangled with a blind cord and stabbed to death in her own home by her former lover, have been described by the victim’s young daughter as like those “which could only be seen in horror movies”.
Ms Thompson’s teenage daughter also told the Central Criminal Court today in her victim impact statement that she will never forget repeat offender Brian McHugh’s “face or evil eyes” and that his name will “haunt” her for the rest of her life.
She added: “You went in that night and brutally killed her, left her there to die and then robbed her of what she owned.
“We lost our mam to someone we thought we could trust. Someone that played with us and once laughed and joked with us in the same home you took my mam’s life.
“All that me and my brother have left are memories and photos of her. If we want to talk to her we have to visit a patch of grass and just be reminded of what you have done to our mother.”
The testimony was heard as part of three emotional victim impact statements read today to the Central Criminal Court, where McHugh, 40, was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment for murdering 52-year-old Lisa Thompson.
The sentence was backdated to July 11 2022, when he went into custody.
In the three statements, delivered to the sentencing court by Ms Thompson’s sister Ashley Duckett, she said the family had been in the courtroom for the last month listening to “many things” regarding the deceased.
She said: “Lisa was a mother, daughter, sister and a wonderful auntie. I know she was in a dark place before her death, but that is not a reflection on how she lived her life. We shared many happy memories and laughs along the way. She was my friend and my go-to person for late-night chats.
“When I was asked to write this impact statement, I struggled to find the words to express the hurt, pain, anger and emptiness that you have caused my family. Therefore, I thought who better to ask than the two people my sister loved the most; her children.”
Evidence has been given in the trial that gardai searching Ms Thompson’s home found thousands of prescription tablets worth nearly €50,000 hidden in her attic and that she and McHugh had a “bit of a fling” in the year before she died.
Earlier, the court heard that McHugh has 50 previous convictions; 20 of which are for theft and burglary, five for robbery, eight for drug offences, two for possession of knives and one for criminal damage.
‘TAKEN TOO SOON’
Ms Thompson’s friends were in court today wearing “Justice for Lisa” t-shirts and emblazoned on their backs was: “‘Taken away too soon by an evil monster. RIP.”
On February 27 last, a jury took just over three hours to find McHugh guilty of murdering Ms Thompson.
Evidence was heard during the three-week trial that Ms Thompson – who was found with 11 stab wounds to her chest and the blood-stained cord wrapped around her neck – was dealing prescription drugs from her home.
Six of the wounds penetrated her heart, and two went through and through, which the defence submitted in its closing address had “an element of overkill”.
McHugh, with an address at Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun in Dublin 11, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Thompson at Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun, on May 9, 2022.
CCTV FOOTAGE
A forensic scientist told the trial that the blind cord contained McHugh’s DNA, while the prosecution argued that he could be seen on CCTV footage near Ms Thompson’s home on the night of the killing.
When asked to account for the presence of his DNA on the cord, McHugh told gardai that he had been “in and out” of Ms Thompson’s house “for the last three years”.
The jury had also heard that DNA recovered from jewellery found in the defendant’s home also matched that of Ms Thompson.
Following the three statements, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor said Ms Duckett had represented her sister “beautifully” and with dignity.
The judge said Ms Duckett had allowed her sister to have the final voice in the trial through these three statements.
‘VIOLENT DEATH’
Extending her condolences to the Thompson family and her many friends on the loss of their “beloved Lisa”, Ms Justice O’Connor said they had displayed “extraordinary dignity despite hearing such devastation and heartbreaking evidence” about the deceased’s “violent death”.
She said Ms Thompson’s death had occurred in “such horrific and brutal circumstances”.
The judge noted that losing a parent “lives” with children “through their lives”, adding: “I’m sure they will be supported, minded and loved by Ms Thompson’s loved ones”.
Ms Thompson’s children, the court heard, were 12 and 13 when their mother was murdered.
“Lisa was a mother, daughter, sister and a wonderful auntie. I know she was in a dark place before her death but that is not a reflection on how she lived her life.”
Lisa’s sister Ashley Duckett
Ms Justice O’Connor went on to say that “words cannot describe what” the deceased’s children are going through.
She added: “There is a painful road ahead of you. I wish you all the best for the future.”
Ms Thompson’s daughter said in her statement that it has been nearly three years since their world “was turned upside down”.
She said her mother was murdered in their home by “someone she thought was a friend and trusted”.
‘HORRIFIC DEATH’
She added: “It was so hard to hear my mam was dead let alone had such a horrific death. She must have been terrified that night. You never considered it was not just my mam’s life you took but my own and my brother’s whole world.
“We will never get over this and half of our hearts went with our mam and you robbed us of her. I’m glad we got justice and for the guards to find all they could to catch you.
“We are far too young for this trauma that you have caused us and there is always a concern when I grow up and don’t feel safe in my own home because of people like you that exist. . . One day when I have kids of my own, they will ask me why do we go the graveyard to see our grandmother. How on earth do you explain that to someone.
“We lost our mam to someone we thought we could trust. Someone that played with us and once laughed and joked with us in the same home you took my mam’s life.”
Lisa’s daughter
Ms Thompson’s young son said in his statement that his mother was his best friend, his guide and his greatest supporter.
He added: “Her absence has left an irreplaceable void in my heart and in my family. Since her tragic death I have experienced a range of emotions – anger, sadness, confusion. The memories of her laughter and warmth haunt me daily.
“I find it difficult to navigate life without her presence because of this man that took my mother’s life. She will never get to see me and my sister grow older. The man who took her from us not only ended her life but shattered our family’s future and dreams we shared.”
‘RIPPLE OF PAIN’
Ms Duckett concluded the two children’s statements by saying that her sister’s death had left “a ripple of pain” throughout their entire family but that they would “stand together and get through this”.
Last month, the 12 jurors took just three hours and 24 minutes to unanimously reject McHugh’s defence that Ms Thompson was a “woman of secrets” and that there was more to her killing “than would appear on the surface”.
Defence counsel for McHugh, Brendan Grehan SC with Karl Monahan BL, submitted in his closing address that this was not “the neat case wrapped up in a bow” which the prosecution had presented to the jury.
The jury instead agreed with Fiona Murphy SC that the prosecution had “meticulously presented a tapestry of circumstantial evidence”, where each thread had been interwoven, painting a “compelling picture” of McHugh’s guilt.
EVIDENCE ALLOWED
McHugh was due to stand trial last year but a pre-trial ruling found that the evidence from two gardai purporting to recognise the defendant from CCTV footage near the deceased’s home should be excluded due to their involvement in the investigation.
However, in what was believed to be the first appeal of its kind, the ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal after successful submissions by the State, and as a result the evidence was restored for consideration at McHugh’s current trial before the Central Criminal Court.
The jury had watched a CCTV montage of what the prosecution said were the defendant’s and a named woman’s movements near the deceased’s home in Ballymun on the night of the killing.
The prosecutor told the jury in her closing address that McHugh chose to make no comment to gardai when asked to account for his presence at Sandyhill Gardens between 1.25am and 2.50am on May 9 2022 as depicted on CCTV footage.
Ms Murphy said the jury was entitled to draw inference from the fact that McHugh hadn’t denied that the identification was accurate.
TEXT MESSAGES
Evidence was also given that McHugh had received a text message from the named woman saying “I could of been like Lisa today strangle n stab” over a month after Ms Thompson was found dead.
However, a senior investigating officer told the jury that details of the ligature and strangulation injuries on Ms Thompson had not been released into the public domain at the time these text messages were sent.
Other text messages sent from the named woman to McHugh in June 2022 included her saying: “Murder Lisa n al” and “Move the knife did u”.
In another text she said: “Goin in bye I’m at Ballymun station bye I’m tellin” as well as “ur runners n the knife.”
“It was so hard to hear my mam was dead let alone had such a horrific death. She must have been terrified that night. You never considered it was not just my mam’s life you took but my own and my brother’s whole world.”
Lisa’s daughter
In her closing speech, the prosecutor said the named woman was with McHugh before, after and at the time the murder was committed.
She said the named woman had specifically referenced matters she had no reason to know about unless she had some form of “insider information” that Ms Thompson had been strangled and stabbed.
Counsel said the woman had referenced in her text the two items which were missing in the case and that the pair of runners seized by gardai from McHugh had no blood on them.
‘LOVELY LADY’
Speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice Building today, Lisa’s friend Susan Browne said: “We can’t believe Lisa got justice today and we know she is up there bouncing around with joy and especially for her children and her family. And especially the judge she got today done her very proud.
“She was a lovely lady, she would give you her heart on a plate. She was beautiful, a great neighbour”.
Another friend Samatha McCormack said: “Lisa was a lovely woman, she helped everyone. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. She got justice today”.
