THE mother of a murdered Cork woman spoke yesterday of her pity for her daughter's killer. She said she believed he did not mean to take her life.
In an interview with Cork Local Radio, Mrs Carmel Linehan, mother of Valerie Linehan (21), who was killed in a fight with her boyfriend two years ago at their Cork city flat, said Valerie was more like a sister to her than a daughter.
At the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, Gerry Mullane (33), a gas fitter, from Emly, Co Tipperary, was sentenced to life for the murder of his girlfriend.
The court was told that after a drinking bout, they returned to their MacCurtain Street flat. When he failed to make love to her, Mullane said she mocked his sexual prowess. In the ensuing row, he stabbed and strangled Valerie. Later that evening, he gave himself up to gardai.
Mrs Linehan said she would never forget her only daughter and had endured Mullane's trial for Valerie's sake. "She was everything to me, more like my sister than my daughter. But I feel sorry for that boy. I pity him. He has to live with it now. I think he did love her and I don't think he meant to do it to her. I met him twice and he seemed a very nice sort of chap. He was proud of Valerie. She was a beautiful girl."
"I miss her so much and I will not rest until I go to my grave. She had a great sense of humour and she was a very straight person. Everyone loved her and she loved life. She had a beautiful figure, she had it in every way.
"I feel for the mother of that boy. Listening to the evidence was terrible, but I did it for Valerie. He could have just beaten her, he didn't have to stick a knife in her," Mrs Linehan said.
"I still think she's here. If only I could have her back. Valerie is happy today, but that boy will have to live his life in prison. I wouldn't like to see anybody going through what I did, but I did it for Valerie. People say you have to get on with your life, but it has to come to your own door to feel the pain. I don't think I'll last long after Valerie."
At the trial, Mr Justice Carney told the jury that, because of Mullane's admission of guilt, a verdict of not guilty was not open to them. After two hours, a unanimous guilty verdict was returned.