Butcher given life in jail for murder

A BUTCHER has been jailed for life after he was found guilty last month of murdering a shopkeeper and father-of-two in Arklow in November 2009.

Anthony Farrell, aged 20, of Marian Villas in Arklow, had denied murdering 48-year-old John Deasy at Brauder’s newsagents on the main street in the town, after he had robbed €50 from the till.

Mr Deasy died in the doorway of the newsagents after his shop assistant, Kay O’Connor, screamed for help when Farrell appeared wearing a balaclava, wielding a kitchen knife and demanding money.

Mr Deasy ran from his overhead apartment and tried to block Farrell’s escape, but the butcher stabbed him through the heart, leaving him to die in the doorway.

A Central Criminal Court jury unanimously found Farrell guilty of the murder following his trial in April. He had pleaded guilty to robbery at the outset of the trial.

Victim impact statements on behalf of Mr Deasy’s ex-wife, Brianne Finn, and their two daughters, aged 13 and 16, were read out for the court during Farrell’s sentence hearing yesterday.

Ms Finn said John’s “untimely death” was a very “difficult transition” for her and her daughters.

She said John was “a good dad” who had always stayed in the lives of his daughters following their divorce.

She described being at the scene the night John died and hoping that it was not someone local who had killed him.

But in reality it was, she said, and it was very difficult to be around the town, reminded of the killing every time she passed the shop.

She said her daughters also found it very difficult to pass the shop, which they had to do every time they went to visit their grandparents.

Ms Finn described John as a hard and diligent worker who loved rugby and someone who would frequently attend matches with his friends.

Her daughters said they loved their dad and missed him, but remembered the good times with him when he would take them swimming and on holidays.

His youngest daughter said: “I will never see him again, but Anthony Farrell’s parents can see him again.”

In handing down sentence, Mr Justice Paul Butler described it as a “very sad and tragic case, a robbery that led to the violent death of Mr Deasy at the hands of the accused, while he was bravely trying to defend his property and Ms O’Connor”.