‘Nichola’s life is gone, but he could be let out’

‘IT was a pity I didn’t do more.” The words spoken by Peter Whelan as he was arrested for the murder of 20-year-old Nichola Sweeney and the frenzied attack on her friend Sinéad O’Leary haunt the dead girl’s family who believe it showed his absolute intention to slaughter them that night.

His chilling words and horrific attack have driven the Sweeneys to begin a campaign to ensure Peter Whelan, and all others who take a life, must pay for their crime by forfeiting their liberty for the rest of their lives. The Sweeneys, through the Nichola Sweeney Foundation, hope to ensure that a life sentence will truly mean life.

The family has been devastated by the seemingly motiveless attack on the girls. At around 11pm on Saturday April 27, 2002, as the two prepared to go out, 19-year-old Whelan entered the Sweeney’s house in Rochestown, Co Cork, with two knives.

He went upstairs and began to kick and punch Sinéad and then stabbed her 20 times. His attack was so vicious that he broke the knife while he was stabbing her. According to Sinéad, “while he was attacking me he was watching Nichola to see her reaction and smiling. He was wearing a horrible smile on his face.”

Thinking Sinéad dead, he lunged at Nichola with the other knife. She managed to lock the door of the en-suite bathroom, but he kicked the door in. He stabbed her a number of times and eventually stabbed her in the heart as she tried to escape from a dormer window.

While he was attacking Nichola, Sinéad clawed her way downstairs and locked herself in a small bathroom. When he killed Nichola, he went downstairs to try and find Sinéad, but gave up, believing her dead, and went home.

He changed his clothes, washed himself, and then along with his uncle and some neighbours, made his way back to the Sweeney’s house as garda cars and ambulances arrived. He even spoke to Sinéad’s parents.

As Sinéad survived against all the odds, having to receive more than 200 stitches, she described her attacker. Gardaí were able to arrest him at the scene, where he told them he wished he had been able to do more.

Nichola’s father, John, believes Whelan to be one of the most vicious killers this country has ever seen.

Even though he pleaded guilty on December 20, 2002, to the murder of Nichola, for which he was given a life sentence and got 15 years for the attempted murder of Sinéad, the family believe he could be out in about 25 years with good behaviour.

“Twenty-five years, how is that life?” he asked during an interview with Neil Prendeville on 96FM yesterday.

“When your life is gone it is gone. Nichola’s life is gone, but he could be let out. He went to jail at 20 so he could be out at 45 and he would still be a young man,” he said.

Mr Sweeney said his wife Josephine, 19-year old son Sean and six-year-old son Christopher have been devastated by the murder and are selling off pubs they run here and in Britain.

“We are winding everything down. We are going to dedicate our lives and will spend every penny to make sure Peter Whelan and everyone else who has taken a life stays behind bars. Our lives are an empty shell without Nichola.”

The nicholasweeneyfoundation.org website asks people two questions: should a life sentence mean life and whether the family and friends of the victim should be consulted where release is being considered.

The family is hoping to raise enough support so laws about good behaviour can be changed to ensure killers are never set free.

“Life has to mean life and it should be the minimum price someone pays if they take someone else’s life. The loss of liberty for life is the minimum that should be expected,” Mr Sweeney said, who despite his huge loss, did not agree with the death penalty.

He said the family was not trying to constantly publicise Nichola’s murder, but just trying to keep Peter Whelan and all other convicted killers behind bars for life.