Man jailed for 10 years after strangulation

An English man who beat and strangled his estranged wife to death in a Co Tipperary hotel was today jailed for 10 years after being convicted of her manslaughter.

After more than nine hours of deliberations at the Central Criminal Court, the jury, by 10-2 majority, found 51-year-old John Collinson not guilty of murder, but guilty of the manslaughter of Rosie Collinson (51) of Bridge Street, Carrick On Suir, at the Bell and Salmon Arms hotel on March 3,2002.

The defence of provocation was accepted by the jury.

The court heard that Rosie Collinson was "trapped in a situation of domestic violence" unknown to her family.

After the verdict, the court heard evidence of previous injuries inflicted on the deceased, including a broken jaw and broken bones. Days before the killing, she had contacted a women’s refuge saying she was in fear of her estranged husband.

Today, the victim’s brother told the court that his sister’s body was identified only by her jewellery. Her remains were placed in a closed coffin because of horrific injuries to her face.

Jailing the accused for 10 years, Mr Justice Carney highlighted the fact that, when provocation is raised, the law does not protect the character or memory of the victim.

"Lawyers have begun, in a number of recent cases, to see this as an unsatisfactory situation of unfairness, yet there is no solution in sight," he noted.

Collinson admitted beating and strangling Rosie Collinson, the mother of his four children, during a row over another man. He denied murdering her. The jury heard that he used "severe and violent force" to inflict multiple injuries when he attacked her in the hotel bedroom.

Mr Collinson, who was married to the deceased for 33 years, lived and worked in the Netherlands.

The evidence was that they had been living apart since 1996, when she returned to Ireland from England where they had raised the children, two sons and two daughters, now adults. They also have grandchildren.

Five days before the killing, the accused returned to Carrick On Suir from Holland unannounced and checked in to the Bell and Salmon Arms.

Detective Sergeant Derek O’Riordan, Clonmel, told the court that, during that week, the deceased appeared in fear of John Collinson. On the Monday and Tuesday, she twice contacted a social worker and had set up an appointment at a women’s refuge for Wednesday but did not keep it.

He told the court that Rosie Collinson had also phoned her daughter, Oriana, and told her of the violence that her father had inflicted on her, of which the daughter was previously unaware.

On Thursday, she met the accused and returned her wedding and engagement rings. The evidence was that the previous year she had entered a new relationship with another man and was starting to rebuild her life.

On the day of the killing, the deceased went with John Collinson to Waterford but on returning to Carrick On Suir that evening a row broke out when he accused her of being involved with another man.

John Collinson told the court he "snapped" when his wife said "he'll kill you". He began beating her and putting his hands around her throat and squeezing them. He left her body in the hotel bedroom, went to the gardaí and told he had just killed his wife.

Post mortem reports showed that Rosie Collinson died from manual strangulation combined with blunt force trauma to the head, trunk and limbs. She also sustained two black eyes and multiple injuries to the lips and face during the attack, in which he used "severe and violent force".

The victim’s brother Liam Walsh told the court: "The events of two years ago have brought great sorrow and sadness on our family." He said he identified his sister’s body in the morgue "only after a series of walks around the table" and then only by her jewellery.

His brother, Jim Walsh broke down as he told the court that his sister was "trapped into a situation of domestic violence that was not known to us. If it was, we would not be in this court today."

The court heard that the accused had a number of previous convictions for violence, both in England and here.

Jailing the accused, Mr Justice Carney, said he was very limited by previous decisions by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

He took into account the fact that the accused admitted the killing and acknowledged that in accepting provocation, the jury accepted that at the criticial time John Collinson was not in control of his actions.

However, he also had to have regard to the "pattern of violence" and previous convictions for violent offences. "He knew for a long time he had this violent propensity," Judge Carney noted.

He said he was attempting "as much as I humanely can, to balance all these facts". He jailed the accused for 10 years, to run from March 2002.

Thanking the jury, he exempted them from further service for a period of 15 years.