Judge criticises Hayes' 'total lack of remorse'

Oliver Hayes, who was jailed for life today for the murder of Cork widow Ann Corcoran, showed total lack of remorse for the woman he bludgeoned to death, according to the judge presiding over the trial.

Hayes was also given concurrent ten-year sentences for the five withdrawals he made from her bank as she lay dead at his home.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said: “Apart from the gratuitous violence involved, one of the most chilling features of this case was the accused’s total lack of genuine remorse over anything other than the suffering caused to Ann Corcoran’s dogs.

“As recently as last week he said under cross-examination he was as much a victim as the unfortunate woman he bludgeoned to death.”

The deceased’s nephew Kevin Kelly said in a victim impact statement on behalf of the family: “She was very beautiful, she walked briskly and with purpose. Ann was a devoted daughter and wife. Anne her mother’s sole carer up until her death in 2000 and likewise did the same for her husband Jerry up until his death in 2008.”

He said the couple would have loved to have children but never did. Her dogs, Roy, Trudy and Clive were described as her passion, along with her love of music.

“A closed coffin is no way to say goodbye to our loved one,” Mr Kelly said.

Detective Inspector Joseph Moore said Hayes worked with Mrs Corcoran’s late husband and knew her only to see. He decided on January 18, 2009 to rob her and went to her home the following day, bringing rope with him for the purpose of tying her up.

“He waited for her and surprised her at the back door (in the dark) and pushed her into the back of the house, pushed her into a little bathroom and tied her up and commenced interrogating her about where cash was kept… She threw a vase at him and refused to answer questions,” Det. Insp. Moore said.

Hayes tied her up again and bundled her into the boot of her own car driving it over many back roads to his house over a period of two hours.

He brought her to a bedroom where he tied her entire body in electrical cable and gagged her. He got what he wanted – the location of the bank cards and PIN numbers.

Fearing she might escape he tried to knock her unconscious with a plank but needed something substantially heavier which he used to knock her out. She was still breathing after he returned back home with her bank cards. He went to bed. It is believed that Mrs Corcoran died during the night as a result of the trauma to her head and being gagged.

Over the next five days he withdrew the daily maximum of €600 from an ATM.

On January 24, he brought her body to a remote woods near Ballinspittle where he burnt the body and buried it.

Hayes then went on holidays to Austria. He left enough food for her dogs.