The very worst kind of killings

THE killing of a child always sends a shiver down the spine but the death of a child at the hands of a parent is seen by many as the worst kind of killing.

Such deaths are not unusual, however.

August, 2001: Deirdre Crowley, six, was abducted by her father Christopher and had been in hiding for almost two years. When gardaí found them in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Mr Crowley shot his daughter before turning the gun on himself.

July, 2001: Debbie Fox, 31, and her two sons, Trevor, nine, and Cillian, seven, were found battered and stabbed to death in their home in the village of Castledaly, Co Westmeath.

The children’s father, Gregory Fox, aged 33, was later convicted of the three murders.

June, 2001: Karl Murphy, aged seven, was found lying face down on Greystones beach in Co Wicklow.

His mother, Ruth Murphy, who was separated from the child’s father, John, was discovered in a shocked state a short distance from the body. She is serving a life sentence for murder.

April, 2001: Nathan Alli, aged 20 months, died of blows to the head following an incident at his home in Clane, Co Kildare.

His Somalian father, Yusif Alli Abdi, was arrested at Naas General Hospital after accompanying his Irish wife to hospital with the fatally injured child. He was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

December, 2000: Unemployed fisherman Michael Burke, 51, from Baldoyle in Dublin, drove himself and his daughter Miriam, nine, off the pier at Howth Harbour. At the inquest, Mr Burke’s common-law wife, Lillian McGowan, said he had not been himself at the time of his death because he had financial worries.

September, 2000: Stephen Byrne, 37, from Cuffesgrange, Co Kilkenny, murdered his wife Maeve, 34, stabbing her to death. Taking his sons Alan, 10 and Shane, six, from the house, Mr Byrne then drove his car off the pier at Duncanon, Co Wexford, where all three drowned.

April, 2000: Following a fight with his partner, Derek Hickey, 27, stabbed his 14-week-old daughter Leilah to death at the family home in Newbridge, Co Kildare. He also stabbed his partner, Sinead Smullen, 18, in the neck and back. Convicted in June, Hickey is serving life for murder.

October, 1999: Robert Costello, seven, was killed at his home in Mullinavat, Co Kilkenny.

His mother Jacqueline, 29, was detained at the Central Mental Hospital after being found guilty but insane of her son’s murder.