Family's disgust as murder charge over fatal stabbing of Irish grandfather dropped

The family of an Irish grandfather who was fatally stabbed on his mobility scooter are “disgusted” the murder charge was dropped without their knowledge.

Lee Byer attacked Thomas O’Halloran, 87, in the neck and chest in Greenford, West London, in August 2022. The 45-year-old, of no fixed address, denied murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and having an offensive weapon on Monday.

Byer will be sentenced on May 10, but the decision to drop the career criminal’s murder charge was condemned by the O’Halloran family.

READ MORE - Man admits killing Irish pensioner on mobility scooter just days after being released from prison

The victim’s daughter Jeanne, 64, said they were not consulted about the decision to drop the charge. She told The Times of London: “We were given no choice, they just told us what they were going to do. I am disgusted by this, he will be freed from prison to kill again.

Thomas O'Halloran, originally from Co Clare
(Image: Met Police)

“We knew he had a previous conviction for robbery but we didn’t know he had just come out of prison when he killed my dad.”

It can now be reported Byer had just been released from Wormwood Scrubs. Prosecutor Gareth Patterson KC accepted Byer’s pleas after mental health reports found he was psychotic, hearing voices, suffering from paranoid delusions and paranoid schizophrenia.

He said the defendant’s mental state provided an explanation for what was a “motiveless attack”.

Mr O’Halloran was from Ennistymon, Co Clare. He was a musician who often busked for charity in his area.

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