Man admits to poisoning partner of 30 years with enough Valium to ‘knock a horse out'

Sunday World

24-05-2025

AVOIDS JAIL |
Mark O'Neill told gardaí that he wanted Helen Nolan to be able to relax because she'd been stressed in recent times and that he 'took it on himself' to do it and that he thought he was 'doing the right thing'
Photo: Getty/stock image
Judge Eugene O'Kelly was told Mark O'Neill's partner, Helen Nolan, discovered the Valium tablets in a sandwich he made for her last August. After taking one bite, she didn't eat any more because it tasted 'metallic' and immediately went to sleep.
O'Neill (62), of Cois na Coille, Pollerton, Co Carlow, was in court for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to Section 12 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Persons Act, which is defined as intentionally or recklessly administering, or causing to be taken, a substance which he/she knows to be capable of interfering substantially with the other's bodily functions.
Judge O'Kelly was told at an earlier sitting of the Circuit Court by defence counsel Ross Pratt-O'Brien BL that O'Neill and Ms Nolan had been in a relationship for 30 years and that they lived together at the above address in Pollerton.
He said the accused accepted it was a horrific thing to do. He co-operated fully with the garda investigation and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
Photo: Getty/stock image
News in 90 Seconds - May 24th 2025
The investigating garda told the court that O'Neill got sick in 2009 and had been diagnosed with cancer. Although he'd made a good recovery, he rarely left the house, didn't drive, didn't work and didn't socialise.
When the case came back before court today for sentencing, Judge O'Kelly said the accused man's partner had not been aware of the substance used in the sandwich. The accused said he took it on himself to do it because his partner was going through a difficult time. It was a shocking thing to do, he said.
'It was a shocking incident particularly with a person whom he knew had shocking medical issues which required lots of medication, so he knew perfectly well what he was doing to his partner,' said Judge O'Kelly.
O'Neill has no previous convictions. The judge said the appropriate sentence would be two years and six months.
'I have read the victim impact statement. The Probation Welfare Report is positive. The accused currently does not have a strong support network and is of low risk of reoffending,' added Judge O'Kelly.
Judge O'Kelly said he would impose a sentence of one year and six months, which he would suspend in its entirety for a period of two years on condition the accused entered into a bond of €100.
Speaking directly to O'Neill, Judge O'Kelly said: 'I can assure you, that you have used up every opportunity that is available from this court'.
The court also heard that their relationship had deteriorated over the years, to the extent that it could be days or weeks without them speaking to each other, and that they also had separate bedrooms. Read more
Mr Pratt-O'Brien told the court there had been no violence or aggression in their relationship.
The court was also told that Ms Nolan suffered from fibromyalgia and diabetes, while Mr O'Neill also took medications, but that their medications were kept in two separate locations in the house.
Judge O'Kelly was told that, on the day of the offence, Ms Nolan was in her bedroom on the phone when she heard O'Neill on the landing outside, so she asked him to make a sandwich for her.
He subsequently returned with a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich, gave it to her and left the bedroom. The court heard what when Ms Nolan took a bite out of it, it tasted metallic and didn't taste like it should have, so she put it down and didn't have any more.
She then fell asleep and when she woke up the following morning she still felt tired, so tired that she didn't feel like she had slept at all. She was 'overwhelmingly tired', the court heard.
Judge O'Kelly was also told that when she saw the sandwich still on her bedside locker, the bread had turned blue in places, and, on investigation, she saw blue tablets mixed into it. She went to her doctor, who said she was medically fine but advised her to go to the gardaí about the matter.
In a statement to gardaí, Ms Nolan said she had had seven car accidents in recent months but she couldn't be sure it had anything to do with being medicated. She also told gardai that she'd taken only a single bite of the sandwich and 'God knows what would have happened' if she'd eaten the whole thing.
The investigating garda told the court that when he went to arrest O'Neill, he made admissions in the patrol car, saying that he'd put 'mayonnaise, tomatoes and two blue Valium tablets' in the sandwich.
He told gardaí that he wanted Ms Nolan to be able to relax because she'd been stressed in recent times and that he 'took it upon himself' to do it and that he thought he was 'doing the right thing'.
Mr. O'Neill told gardai they were his tablets and that they could 'knock a horse out for hours' they were so strong.
Judge O'Kelly was told that the defendant had denied doing it before and that 'he had no intention of harming her because she meant too much to him' because she had taken care of him when he had cancer.