Deaths of family and friend were ‘mindless’

The murders of a mother, her two young children and a family friend, in a house in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, on Nov 15, 2010, was described by a coroner as “mindless, mind-numbing, inexplicable, vicious” crime which shocked the nation.

Verdicts of death due to multiple stab wounds were recorded by a jury at Newcastle West courthouse into the deaths of Sarah Hines, 25, her children Reece, 3, and Amy, five months, and a friend, Alicia Brough, 20.

All died when John Geary set out to kill Sarah on finding out she planned to enter a new relationship.