'No justice for Sharon': Family hit out at sentence as killer jailed for over 12 years
Consultant psychiatrists called by both the prosecution and defence were in agreement that Seán Egan was suffering from a mental disorder at the time he killed Sharon Crean.
A family wearing “No Justice for Sharon” T-shirts in court on Thursday said the killer had a warm bed while their loved one lay in the ground, as he was handed a 12-and-a-half-year sentence for her killing.
“She was bubbly, loving, and brilliant — she wasn’t just my daughter, she was a friend, a mother to a mother, caring and loving,” Catherine Crean said after Seán Egan, a 39-year-old electrician formerly of Killenard, Co Laois, was sentenced by Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.
Speaking outside the courthouse afterwards, the family said they were angry at the verdict finding him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, and at the sentence handed down.
Sharon’s brother, Nigel, said it was like someone had put a rock through a window and they were left as a family with the impossible task of picking up every piece of broken glass and trying to put it together again. “There was no justice for her our family. He stabbed her 13 times, he put 42 injuries on her,” he added.
Her brother, Brendan, said of his sister’s killer: “He is being fed and watered every day. We have to water flowers on Sharon’s grave.”
Egan was found not guilty of murdering Sharon Crean, aged 34, at College Avenue, Mountmellick, CoLaois on December 14, 2022, but guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility, after a trial that consisted largely of psychiatric evidence.
Consultant psychiatrists called by both the prosecution and defence were in agreement that Egan was suffering from a mental disorder at the time he killed Ms Crean.
In their reports he was variously described as being "impervious to reason", "psychotic at time of interview", having "paranoid psychosis", and "persecution delusions… and needed to protect his child". He was suffering a "fixed delusion belief system", "a psychotic disorder with potential diagnosis of schizophrenia", and "psychotic disorder interfering with his capacity for rational judgement".
Memos of garda interviews with the accused included long narratives from the defendant which lacked coherence.
Egan said: “I know it was a serious thing… For what it is worth, I did love her… Taking the knife out as a deterrent, I was going to use it as a fear factor… I said, right, this is the time. I picked up the candlestick and cracked it over the head… I stabbed her two or three times in the side… I went in jest with the knife… She said, please, please… At no point I thought her life was took.
“Up until I struck her I did not think I would do it. I can’t believe she is dead. I did not know I was penetrating her. I never stabbed anyone. If I can change the clocks I would wind them back.”
Ms Justice Lankford referred to the defendant’s intoxication as well as his underlying paranoid psychosis at the time of the killing. “Recent intoxicant use contributed to disinhibition and agitation further destabilising his mental state,” said the judge.
She also noted that ongoing mental health difficulties would make incarceration more difficult for the accused.
A sentence of 13-and-a-half years was imposed with the last year suspended, and backdated to December 2022 when he went into custody.
Garret Baker, prosecuting, said during the trial: “This prosecution involves the allegation of murder of Sharon Crean in the late afternoon of December 14, 2022, at her home in College Avenue, Mountmellick. She was born in August 1987 and was 35 when she lost her life due to the acts of horrific violence perpetrated by Seán Egan.
“He was her on/off partner. She was stabbed multiple times by Seán Egan using a flick knife with a 9cm blade and also struck with a Himalayan rock candle holder.”
Padraig Dwyer, defending, said: “He killed her in a psychotic rage. I know a lot of people will say he is still alive and she is not. No one is here to exonerate him. We are not saying, not guilty of murder or not guilty by reason of insanity. We are saying he had a disorder that is less than insanity… He would be criminalised for manslaughter…
"All the evidence points to this man suffering a psychotic delusion.”
Ms Justice Lankford said on Thursday that Egan had serious convictions among his 31 previous counts, including sexual assault, assault causing harm to a woman, assault, possession of knives, criminal damage, theft, and drug-dealing.
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