‘My brother wasn’t at my wedding: His killer is free’

Conor Nolan’s younger brother Sean was stabbed to death on a night out in 2007 and by the time Conor got married, the killer had been free three years.

“I got married last December and the person who should have been there wasn’t there,” says Conor. “I didn’t think that the person who did this would be free and our loved one wouldn’t be here.”

He was speaking ahead of Advic’s (the advocacy group for families of victims of homicide) annual remembrance service today.

“Back in May 2007, Sean was 18, had just graduated from school, and it was the night of that celebration before the exams started,” says Conor. “It’s a rite of passage for all teenagers. I had met him earlier that day and my parents had been to the graduation. Life was progressing; it was a milestone, he was moving into adulthood and all that ended with a phone call in the middle of the night.”

His brother’s killer, Finn Colclough, now 27, was given a 10-year sentence in 2008 for manslaughter. He was released in 2014.

Conor says it is essential to keep living your life.

“I am married with three kids now,” he says. “I see my children and I know he’ll never have any, he’ll never get married. You do feel a guilt, it’s impossible not to, but you have to keep on living. If you were to spend all your time being angry you’d end up eating yourself up.”

Conor said that his family never “came across any hint of remorse” from Sean’s killer.

“When the person is resolute, that they’re the aggrieved one, it leaves a sting,” he says.

Conor became involved in Advic after his brother’s death.

“It’s a good way to do something positive in Sean’s name and help people who were in our situation 10 years ago,” he says.

Advic has several goals, one of which is the passing of Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell’s Private Members Bill ‘Minimum Custodial Periods upon Conviction for Murder Bill (2017)’.

This legislation, if enacted, would introduce various tariffs for homicides.

Another aim of Advic is to separate out murder into degrees.

Conor says: “There would be ‘murder one’, which is the traditional murder that has been planned with a motive and the planning has been proved.

“Then there is ‘murder two’ which is without the full element of motive as is required in murder, but with some intent to cause harm, and ‘murder three’ which is near accident.”