Latest news with #NigelCanavan
Irish Times
03-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Son is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his ill mother in her home
The brother of a man who murdered their ailing 58-year-old mother has told the Central Criminal Court that 'someone who should have protected' her had instead taken her life in the 'most cruel, violent and sadistic way possible'. In a victim impact statement on Tuesday, Angela Canavan's son Keith Canavan said his brother Nigel did not just take their mother's life, but had also tried to take her dignity in the way he had killed her 'using the one method she feared the most'. Keith also said his brother had 'portrayed her in the courtroom not as the woman she truly was, but as someone he could scapegoat to protect himself'. He said his mother always had a fear of anyone touching her neck and 'to think that this was the way she died in the one way she had a deep fear of' was 'unthinkable' and 'beyond comprehension' to him. READ MORE Keith said Nigel had denied their mother 'even the smallest grace, both in her final moments and in how he spoke about her after'. In his statement, Keith also said that anyone who would have known Nigel would have known how much he loved their mother, but his actions had not shown love. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said Ms Canavan was a well-loved and accomplished person and he said it 'must be beyond any mother's darkest imaginings that they would die at the hand of the child they gave birth to'. Angela Canavan previously had a 'glittering career' as a psychotherapist. Photograph: On Tuesday Nigel Canavan (39) was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was convicted last month of murdering his mother. Desmond Dockery SC, defending, said the defendant's brother Keith had made a passing reference in his victim impact statement that despite the violence inflicted by Nigel on their mother, anyone who knew Nigel would have known how much he loved his mother. On May 16th, a jury convicted Nigel of murder, rejecting his claim he was provoked and defending himself from an attack by his mother, whom he strangled and smothered to death in her own home. Nigel claimed that stab wounds to each of Ms Canavan's thighs, one of which tracked to 13.5cm in depth, were self-inflicted by his mother, who the trial heard had a 'glittering career' as a psychotherapist before succumbing to alcoholism. Nigel also claimed he had acted in self-defence when his mother, who had a brain injury from a fall four years before her death, attacked him by swinging her open hands at him and trying to kick him. Taking the stand during his trial, Nigel further accused his mother of deliberately provoking him by calling him the 'worst son in the world' and saying during a heated argument how she wished she had never had him. The jury also rejected a suggestion by Nigel's defence that his mother's alleged insults so provoked him that he could be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. A pathologist found that, besides being strangled and smothered, Ms Canavan had suffered a laceration to the top of her head, bruises to her face, body, arms and legs and three broken ribs. Some injuries indicated she tried to defend herself from an attack, and bruises to her chest suggested she had been manhandled before her death, the court heard. Nigel, with an address at Erris Gardens, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to his mother's murder at her home in St John's Terrace, Sligo, on May 1st, 2023.
BreakingNews.ie
03-06-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Nigel Canavan sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his mother
The brother of a man who murdered their ailing 58-year-old mother in her own home has told the Central Criminal Court that "someone who should have protected" her had instead taken her life in the "most cruel, violent and sadistic way possible". In his victim impact statement on Tuesday, Angela Canavan's son Keith Canavan said his brother Nigel didn't just take their mother's life but had also tried to take her dignity in the way he had killed her "using the one method she feared the most". Advertisement Keith Canavan also said his brother had "portrayed her in the courtroom not as the woman she truly was, but as someone he could scapegoat to protect himself". Keith Canavan said his mother always had a fear of anyone touching her neck and "to think that this was the way she died in the one way she had a deep fear of" was "unthinkable" and "beyond comprehension" to him. The witness said his brother had denied their mother "even the smallest grace, both in her final moments and in how he spoke about her after". In his statement, Keith Canavan also said that anyone who would have known his brother Nigel would have known how much he loved their mother, but his actions had not shown love. Advertisement He added: "The actions he took that night were that he battered and killed our mother. The actions he took in this courtroom were to scapegoat her as the antagonist; someone who attacked him, someone who was out of her mind on alcohol, someone who was mentally unwell. Nigel chose to focus on how he was feeling throughout this entire trial. How he was untouchable. How he put his hands on my mother's neck and ended her life so, in his words, she wasn't a threat to him anymore. "These are not the attributes of a person or a son who has love in his heart for our mother. These are not the actions of someone who wanted to be there for his mother. These are the actions of someone who wanted to take control of a vulnerable person who was physically disabled so he could win," he added. Presiding judge Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo noted on Tuesday that Ms Canavan was a well-loved and accomplished person and that it "must be beyond any mother's darkest imaginings that they would die at the hand of the child they gave birth to". "The defendant will have to live with what he did," he added. The testimony was heard as part of an emotional victim impact statement read to the Central Criminal Court, where Nigel Canavan (39) was sentenced to the mandatory term of life imprisonment for murdering his mother Angela Canavan. The sentence was backdated to April 30th last. Advertisement Earlier, the court heard that Nigel Canavan has two previous convictions, one for assault and the other for drink driving, with both committed on February 26th, 2023. Defence counsel, Desmond Dockery SC, said the defendant's brother Keith had made a passing reference in his victim impact statement that despite the violence inflicted by Nigel Canavan on their mother, anyone who knew Nigel would have known how much he loved his mother. On May 16th last, a jury convicted Nigel Canavan of murder, rejecting his claim that he was provoked and defending himself from an attack by his mother, whom he strangled and smothered to death in her own home. Nigel Canavan claimed that stab wounds to each of Ms Canavan's thighs, one of which tracked to 13.5cm in depth, were self-inflicted by his mother, who the trial heard had a "glittering career" as a psychotherapist before she fell into the grip of alcoholism. Advertisement Nigel Canavan also claimed that he had acted in self-defence when his mother, who had a brain injury from a fall four years before her death, attacked him by swinging her open hands at him and trying to kick him. Ireland Woman who died in Galway house fire was a death ro... Read More Taking the stand at his Central Criminal Court trial, Nigel Canavan further accused his mother of deliberately provoking him by calling him the "worst son in the world" and saying she wished she had never had him during a heated argument. The jury also rejected a suggestion by Nigel Canavan's defence that his mother's alleged insults so provoked him that he could be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. A pathologist found that besides being strangled and smothered, Ms Canavan had suffered a laceration to the top of her head, bruises to her face, body, arms and legs and three broken ribs. Some injuries indicated she tried to defend herself from an attack, and bruises to her chest suggested she had been manhandled before her death. Nigel Canavan, with an address at Erris Gardens, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to his mother's murder at her home in St John's Terrace, Co Sligo on May 1st, 2023.
Sunday World
16-05-2025
- Sunday World
Man set for life sentence after murdering his mother in her own home
BREAKING | The jury of ten women and two men spent over five hours considering their verdict before rejecting Nigel Canavan's self-defence claim. Nigel Canavan Nigel Canavan (39) claimed that stab wounds to each of Angela Canavan's thighs, one of which tracked to 13.5cm in depth, were self-inflicted by his mother, who the trial heard had a "glittering career" as a psychotherapist before she fell into the grip of alcoholism. Canavan claimed that he had acted in self-defence when his mother, who had a brain injury from a fall four years before her death, attacked him by swinging her open hands at him and trying to kick him. Taking the stand at his Central Criminal Court trial, Canavan further accused his mother of deliberately provoking him by calling him the "worst son in the world" and saying she wished she had never had him during a heated argument. Nigel Canavan News in 90 Seconds - May 16th The jury of ten women and two men spent over five hours considering their verdict before rejecting Canavan's self-defence claim. They also rejected the suggestion that his mother's alleged insults so provoked him that he could be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. A pathologist found that besides being strangled and smothered, Ms Canavan had suffered a laceration to the top of her head, bruises to her face, body, arms and legs and three broken ribs. Some injuries indicated she tried to defend herself from an attack, and bruises to her chest suggested she had been manhandled before her death. Canavan, with an address at Erris Gardens, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to his mother's murder at her home in St John's Terrace, Co Sligo on May 1, 2023. He has been on bail throughout his trial and did not react when the registrar revealed the jury's verdict. His father, who has been by his son's side throughout the trial, broke down in tears. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo remanded Canavan in custody and will sentence him to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at a sentencing hearing on June 3, when Ms Canavan's other son, Keith Canavan, will make a statement to the court. The trial heard that in February 2023, Canavan crashed his car outside the family home while drunk before confronting the driver of the other vehicle while holding a hurl. He pleaded guilty to drunk driving and assault arising from that incident. His then-wife, Claire Conroy, said she wanted a separation so she could get her life "back to normal". In April that year, he moved to his father's home in Crossmolina and on the May Bank Holiday weekend, Canavan stayed with his mother in Sligo. Angela Canavan was a respected therapist and psychologist who had developed difficulties with alcohol. In 2019, she fell down the stairs of her home and suffered a brain injury that affected her mobility. She remained independent but required the daily help of carers. Claire Conroy, who was close to her mother-in-law, described her as a fantastic person whom she would often go to for advice. Read more On the Monday of the Bank Holiday, Nigel Canavan went to work at a hotel in Knock. On his way home, he bought some food from a takeaway and drank from a bottle of vodka he had purchased earlier. At about 8.30pm, he called emergency services to say that he had found his mother dead in her kitchen. In a voluntary interview later that evening, he told detectives that he had been arguing with his mother and went upstairs to get away from her. He said he heard a series of loud bangs, and when he came downstairs to investigate, he found her dead on the floor. Taking the stand at his trial, Canavan accepted that he had been present when his mother died and that he had caused her death. He refused to accept that he had lied or tried to mislead gardai in his interviews, claiming that any incorrect statement he made was because he wasn't thinking clearly due to stress. He said that when he arrived home that night, he confronted his mother about her excessive drinking, and she reacted by launching a "tirade" of abuse at him. He claimed she smashed a chair, stabbed herself in each leg with a steak knife and waved the knife at him, forcing him to wrestle the weapon from her. He said he struck her on the top of the head with a piece of the broken chair and pushed her onto the couch using his forearm against her neck and with his hand to her face. He veered from claiming that his mother deliberately provoked him to claiming that he acted in self-defence. However, the evidence of State Pathologist Dr SallyAnne Collis showed extensive injuries, including bruises and lacerations, all over Ms Canavan's body. She found injuries to the inside of Ms Canavan's mouth that matched her teeth, proving that force had been applied to her mouth to stop her breathing. Bruising to her neck showed that she had also been strangled. The pathologist insisted that death from strangulation and smothering would have taken some minutes. Prosecution counsel Conor Devally SC suggested that the jury could reject everything Canavan said as "bulls**t". He asked the jury to look at the forensic and pathology evidence and conclude that Canavan is guilty of murdering his mother. Desmond Dockery SC, defending, asked the jury to consider whether it could be reasonably possible that a person would be provoked into losing all self-control at hearing their mother telling them they wished they had never had them. He asked the jury to consider whether it was reasonably possible that Canavan believed his life was in danger and that what he did next was in self-defence. Although she had mobility issues, Mr Dockery said CCTV footage from a local shop on the day of her death showed that Ms Canavan was a "sturdily built woman".
Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Irish Times
Nigel Canavan convicted of murder of his mother Angela Canavan in her Co Sligo home
A jury has convicted a 39-year-old man of murder, rejecting his claim that he was provoked and defending himself from an attack by his ailing 58-year-old mother, whom he strangled and smothered to death in her own home. Nigel Canavan (39) claimed that stab wounds to each of Angela Canavan's thighs, one of which tracked to 13.5cm in depth, were self-inflicted by his mother. He claimed that he had acted in self defence when his mother, who had a brain injury from a fall four years before her death, attacked him by swinging her open hands at him and trying to kick him. Taking the stand at his Central Criminal Court trial, Canavan further accused his mother of deliberately provoking him by calling him the worst son in the world and saying she wished she had never had him during a heated argument. The jury of 10 women and two men spent over five hours considering their verdict before rejecting Canavan's self defence claim. They also rejected the suggestion that his mother's alleged insults so provoked him that he could be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. READ MORE A pathologist found that besides being strangled and smothered, Ms Canavan had suffered a laceration to the top of her head, bruises to her face, body, arms and legs and three broken ribs. Angela Canavan. Photograph: Some injuries indicated she tried to defend herself from an attack, and bruises to her chest suggested she had been manhandled before her death. Canavan, with an address at Erris Gardens, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to his mother's murder at her home in St John's Terrace, Sligo, on May 1st, 2023. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo will sentence Canavan to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at a sentencing hearing on June 3rd, when Ms Canavan's other son, Keith Canavan, will make a statement to the court.
BreakingNews.ie
16-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (39) found guilty of murdering his mother
A jury has convicted a 39-year-old man of murder, rejecting his claim that he was provoked and defending himself from an attack by his ailing 58-year-old mother, whom he strangled and smothered to death in her own home. Nigel Canavan claimed that stab wounds to each of Angela Canavan's thighs, one of which tracked to 13.5cm in depth, were self-inflicted by his mother. Advertisement He claimed that he had acted in self-defence when his mother, who had a brain injury from a fall four years before her death, attacked him by swinging her open hands at him and trying to kick him. Taking the stand at his Central Criminal Court trial, Canavan further accused his mother of deliberately provoking him by calling him the worst son in the world and saying she wished she had never had him during a heated argument. The jury of 10 women and two men spent over five hours considering their verdict before rejecting Canavan's self-defence claim. They also rejected the suggestion that his mother's alleged insults so provoked him that he could be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. A pathologist found that besides being strangled and smothered, Ms Canavan had suffered a laceration to the top of her head, bruises to her face, body, arms and legs and three broken ribs. Advertisement Some injuries indicated she tried to defend herself from an attack, and bruises to her chest suggested she had been manhandled before her death. Canavan, with an address at Erris Gardens, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to his mother's murder at her home in St John's Terrace, Co Sligo on May 1st, 2023. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo will sentence Canavan to the mandatory term of life imprisonment at a sentencing hearing on June 3rd, when Ms Canavan's other son, Keith Canavan, will make a statement to the court.
