Co Tyrone man who killed mother by smothering her with pillow sentenced

Noone (47), of Daleside Road, London, admitted killing his defenceless 77-year-old mother Margaret Una Noone in her home by reason of diminished responsibility.

He had originally been charged with her murder but in October this year he was re-arraigned and pleaded guilty to her manslaughter, a plea which was accepted by the prosecution in the light of a number of psychiatric reports compiled on Noone.

Prosecution counsel John Orr KC said the defendant's sister Tracey Noone had travelled over for the proceedings and was present in the public gallery.

He told Mr Justice O'Hara: "Police attended no 39 Ratheen Avenue in Cookstown at around 11 am on June 19, 2022.

"This was after a number of phone calls were made to NI Ambulance Service, to the PSNI and Lincolnshire Police.''

The person who made the call was a friend of the defendant who didn't have an address for Noone in Northern Ireland as he had been living in England for 20 years.

"When police arrived at the property, the blinds were closed, there was no answer to the front door and it was unlocked,'' explained Mr Orr.

"There was a note on the hall table saying: 'Please don't come into the house. Call the police. I'm so sorry, Barry'.

"During the course of looking round the house, a constable observed an open bottle of wine in the bathroom next to a broken glass.

"There was a conscious male in one bedroom, who was the defendant, lying on the bed under the sheets and he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.''

Police found an elderly female in another bedroom who was Margaret Una Noone, known locally as Una, who was lying in her bed with "her hands on her chest with her Rosary beads in her hands''.

"The male identified himself as the son of the deceased and stated to police: 'I murdered her','' said Mr Orr.

"He also told another police officer that he had taken 25-30 tablets from his mother's medication.

"The defendant told police that his mental health had deteriorated with Covid and this lead to what happened.''

Mr Orr confirmed to the court that Noone's claims of taking a large amount of tablets in a suspected suicide bid was "not borne out by the evidence in a toxicology report''.

The court heard the deceased's children, Barry and Tracey, supported their mother from London by doing her shopping online, making appointments and helping with bills.

The defendant returned to Cookstown to look after his mother following her hip operation on April 4, 2022 and remained with her until the killing.

A post mortem was carried by Northern Ireland's State Pathologist, Dr James Lyness, who concluded the cause of death was due to compressions of the neck.

The senior prosecutor confirmed to the judge that it was the Crown's case that Noone had "smothered his mother with a pillow case''.

The court was told police examined Noone's phone which revealed that he had caught Covid on June 12, 2022 and subsequently sent messages to friends.

One message read: "You were a good friend. But I couldn't take it anymore. Not one more day. Take care my friend. I will post this on my wall.

"There are many reasons why this (killing) happened. I have been broken since I was young. My mum has been in ill health for a long time.

"She has done her very best and so have I but we can't go on any more. I can't leave her alone to face these struggles.

"Her crosses became my crosses and I couldn't carry them anymore. I am so sorry. Barry.''

During interviews with detectives, Noone had a prepared statement, which stated: "I accept that my actions caused the death of my mother.

"Mother and I were extremely close. I always loved her but I will never recover from this.

"My mother has suffered significantly with mental health problems and physical ill-health.

"I have also suffered with mental health problems and on Sunday (June 19) I attempted to end my own life. I am so sorry for all of this''.

In a second prepared statement, Noone stated that after catching Covid he was bedridden and couldn't leave his room.

"I was confined to bed and my mother was caring for me. Such was the stress and pressure on us I felt I could no longer put her through it....''

Mr Orr said the killing of Una Noone was the result of "unprovoked incident'' and he confirmed there was "no other motive''

In a pre-sentence report, the Probation Board assessed Noone as not posing a danger to the public in the future.

The probation officer noted: "Mr Noone makes full admissions to the absolutely horrific decision to end his mother's life and acknowledges he had no right to take that decision on her behalf.

"Despite his acceptance of culpability, Mr Noone remains somewhat numb and emotionally attached from his mother following her death.''

Defence counsel Martin O'Rouke KC said the court was dealing with a "very sad and tragic case for a variety of reasons''.

Friends described Noone, who has no previous convictions, as "well and mild mannered''.

In his sentencing remarks today (Tuesday), Mr Justice O'Hara referred to an incident in 2000 when Noone was living with his mother in Belfast.

"The defendant was the victim of a sectarian attack. He managed to escape with little injury but his mother, who was with him and intervened to protect him, came off quite a lot worse than he did.

"A week before the killing, the defendant caught Covid. He was terrified of it spreading to his mother and she was said to have equally terrified of that risk.

"This brought to a head all of the pressures and tensions which existed in the house to a head, says the defendant, and that he could not take anymore''.

A psychiatrist who examined Noone for the prosecution wrote in a report: "He appears to have got enmeshed with his Mrs Noone in a most unhealthy way, which was probably exacerbated by the violent incident in 2000.

Mr Justice O'Hara said that in the early hours of Sunday, June 19, 2022, Noone "went into his mother's bedroom and as she slept put a pillow over her face and applied force to it so that she died. At some point he put rosary beads in her hands''.

He described a victim impact statement from Noone's sister Tracy "challenging reading'' saying she believed his description of events had been "too easily believed''.

Handing down the six year sentence, Mr Justice O'Hara said three years would be spent in custody and the remainder on licence with the Probation Boards.

However, as Noone has already spent two-and-a-half years on remand, he will be free in six months.