Getaway driver in Lisa Thompson's murder slammed for painting herself as ‘the victim'

Sunday World

8 hours ago

Deirdre Arnold acted as the get-away driver for "violent and abusive thug" Brian McHugh
A HSE addiction counsellor, who acted as the get-away driver for "violent and abusive thug" Brian McHugh after he murdered Lisa Thompson, has been told by the victim's daughter that while the defendant tried to paint herself as "the victim" in the trial, she was "guilty and always would be".
The teenager, who was 12 years old when her mother was strangled with a blind cord and stabbed to death in her own home by her former lover, also told Deirdre Arnold: "I hope every time you close your eyes you see what we live with. I hope in the silence of the night it reminds you of how you silenced my mam's voice forever".
On March 10 this year, Brian McHugh (40), with a former address at Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun in Dublin 11 was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment for murdering 52-year-old Ms Thompson after a jury found he had inflicted 11 stab wounds to her chest and wrapped the cord around her neck.
Six of the wounds had penetrated her heart and two went through and through.
In a separate trial last April, a jury found Deirdre Arnold was not an "innocent abroad" and had "decided at every turn" to assist her then-partner McHugh, whom she knew to have murdered mother-of-two Ms Thompson.
Arnold's defence counsel, Mr Patrick Gageby SC, told her sentence hearing yesteday that "in one of those terrible twists of fate", soon after becoming acquainted with McHugh, the addiction worker herself became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine.
He said she has since resigned from her State job.
Arnold, whom the court previously heard is the sole financial support for her three children, remains on bail pending her sentence next month.
Evidence was heard at McHugh's trial that Ms Thompson was dealing prescription drugs from her home, with gardai who searched the house finding thousands of tablets worth nearly €50,000 hidden in the attic.
The trial was told that Ms Thompson and McHugh had a "bit of a fling" in the year before she died.
At Arnold's trial, the jury heard that she had made domestic abuse complaints and got an interim barring order against McHugh.
She also told gardai that McHugh had broken her arm by holding it on the bottom of a stairway and stamping on it.
Mr Gageby argued that his client was in fear of McHugh and reminded the jury that, even if they were satisfied she assisted the murderer, for a conviction they had to find it was without reasonable excuse.
The jury unanimously accepted the State's case that Arnold impeded McHugh's prosecution by driving him to Ms Thompson's home at Sandyhill Gardens in Ballymun on May 9 2022, where she waited outside for "well over an hour" before driving him away from the scene.
Vicious killer Brian McHugh
Arnold later checked McHugh into the Clayton Hotel near Dublin Airport in an effort to help him evade prosecution. It was also the prosecution's case that the defendant allowed her silver Hyundai Tucson to be used to dispose of evidence taken from Ms Thompson's home.
Deirdre Arnold, with an address at Briarfield Grove, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5 was charged that on a date between May 9 2022 and May 10 2022, both dates inclusive, at a location within the State, did without reasonable excuse an act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of Brian McHugh, a person who had committed an arrestable offence, namely murder, whilst knowing or believing Brian McHugh to be guilty of the offence or of some other arrestable offence.
Arnold was also charged that on a date between May 9 2022 and May 10 2022, both dates inclusive, at a location within the State, acted or embarked upon a course of conduct which had a tendency to and was intended to pervert the course of public justice. She had pleaded not guilty to the two counts.
Murder victim and mother-of-two Lisa Thompson
Detective Garda Fergus Burke, of Ballymun Garda Station, told the court that Arnold has three children and one previous conviction from 2022 for attempting to drive under the influence of drugs. She she received a fine and was disqualified from driving for 18 months for this offence.
In his submissions today, Mr Gageby said Arnold accepted the verdict and the matter would rest there.
He said a letter had been handed up to the court which was not a plea for forgiveness but an indication of "true sorrow for her part" and that she would never forget the consequences of that day.
Counsel added: "She also indicates that she recognises her actions no matter how unintentional had become part of something that caused the family great harm and is truly sorry".
Mr Gageby said his client became a heroin user in early 2020, having formed a relationship with McHugh in the preceding year.
In mitigation, Mr Gageby said there was demonstrably a pattern of abuse in the case and there was a text message deployed by the prosecution in the trial where Arnold had nominated McHugh as a danger to women.
He said there were some unfortunate aspects to Arnold's upbringing and to date she has had three relationships with partners; "none of which had ended well and there seemed to be a pattern".
Mr Gageby said his client had worked from the age of 16, had done a number of courses and had provided counselling.
He added: "In one of those terrible twists of fate, soon after becoming acquainted with Brian McHugh she became herself subject to the addiction of heroin and crack cocaine; a pathetic aspect to this".
The lawyer asked the court to consider if Arnold had not been in a relationship with McHugh at the time, would she ever have offended or come to the attention of authorities or ended up in the Central Criminal Court.
Deirdre Arnold
He said the defendant's conviction is incompatible with State employment and she has resigned.
He said Arnold had worked incredibly hard from the age of 16 to provide a stable home but unfortunately established a relationship with someone who brought her down to his level and she was responsible for that.
He submitted that there is no facility for an open prison for female prisoners and asked the court to take that into consideration.
Mr Justice Patrick McGrath remanded Arnold on continuing bail until July 4, when she will be sentenced.
Victim Impact statements:
Ms Thompson's sister Ashley Duckett said in her victim impact statement that the reality between their family and the two defendants families was that "they can still pick up the phone to hear their voice or they can call or visit the prison and one day they can return to their lives".
Ms Duckett said her family will never hear Lisa's voice again or her "contagious laughter".
"Her children would love to be sharing their news on the Junior Cert results and many more things that have happened in the last three years since their mother was taken from them".
Deirdre Arnold
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She said her sister had been "brutally murdered" in her own home and her children would never see her "redeem herself from the depression which had been taking over her life in her final weeks".
Ms Duckett said she asked Lisa's daughter if she wanted to add to the victim impact statement so she could have a voice in the court and what she had to say "provided a glimpse into the hurt and pain caused by the murder of my sister by Brian McHugh and the actions of Deirdre Arnold".
In her statement, Ms Thompson's daughter said she had been out playing with her friends "completely unaware that my world was about to be shattered".
When her dad told her "your mam is dead", the teenager said "it felt like my heart was being stabbed over and over again and each word twisting the knife in deeper, ripping the life out of me bit by bit".
"But you wouldn't understand that kind of pain Deirdre... you brought him to what was once a home filled with laughter, memories and love in every inch of that house".
Ms Thompson's daughter continued: "In court you tried to paint yourself as the victim. Brian may have abused you and threatened you. Maybe you were scared of him but fear doesn't make you innocent...you had a choice that night and you chose to be a part of something unforgivable".
"I was 12 when my mam died. I was still a little girl. I was left alone to carry this grief that was too heavy for a child so I was forced to grow up overnight".
"You have no idea of the trauma and scars you left me and my family with. Imagine a child crying uncontrollably in their friend's arm for hours, begging for a reason, begging for someone to make sense of it. Begging for their friend to tell them it was a nightmare and you would wake up to everything to be okay.
"It's been three years and I'm still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. All of the sleepless nights I've spent staring at the ceiling with so many questions".
"She should be here making a million more memories with our family and friends but instead we visit a cold silent grave".