Mothers’ plea over violent offenders

TWO mothers who lost sons in savage attacks have called for changes in the way the law deals with violent offenders.

Charlotte Nolan, whose 18-year-old son Sean was stabbed to death in Dublin on his graduation night in 2007, said she regretted that the jury in the trial of his attacker had opted to find the accused guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter rather than murder.

“I believe that these cases should be taken out of the hands of the jury,” she said. She said it was too hard for a jury to be objective and she believed they had been swayed by the remorseful appearance of accused, Finn Colclough, in court.