Lies and cover-up taken into account

MR Justice Barry White told Eamonn Lillis he would have to consider whether the “the cover-up, the lies and deceit that you practised in the immediate aftermath of your wife’s death” was an aggravating factor.

He said he consulted a number of judgments by the Court of Criminal Appeal before deciding that he should have regard to Lillis’s cover-up and lies and the effect they had on the Cawley family. He said 10 years, therefore, seemed the appropriate sentence.

“It’s quite clear to me from the powerful victim impact report presented by Susannah Cawley that your offensive behaviour has had a devastating effect on people of all ages,” said the judge, mentioning his 80-year-old father-in-law and his daughter.