A man who attacked his partner, leaving her with severe brain damage which eventually ended her life, was today told he will spend at least 16 years in jail.
Jolene Corr (27) was left needing 24-hour care after her former partner Michael O'Connor (34) "propelled" her down stairs in Downpatrick, Co Down in December 2016.
O’Connor, who appeared at Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, via video link from prison today, appeared to smile and then rub his hands together at the end of the hour long hearing.
Judge Geoffrey Miller QC told the "physical and psychological" bully he would serve at least the full 16 years behind bars for the murder of the mother-of-one and would only be released under a life long licence when the Parole Commissioners considered it safe to do so.
Ms Corr suffered catastrophic brain injuries and was left in a coma after O'Connor attacked her in her house in Thomas Russell Park in Downpatrick.
She spent six months in the Royal Victoria Hospital before doctors told her family there was no possibility of recovery.
Joleen died in the Northern Ireland Hospice on April 26, 2018.
Today, Judge Geoffrey Miller QC praised the "dignity and fortitude" of Joleen’s family who also watched proceedings by video conference call.
The judge described Joleen as a "bubbly young woman" whose life was "cruelly cut short" by the actions of O’Connor when he punched her in the face with such ferocity that he broke her jaw, "propelling her down the stairs".
The young woman's plight was not discovered until the following morning when a neighbour found her.
Judge Miller said there was "no form of meaningful recovery" for Joleen.
He added that it was a "traumatic time for Joleen’s family who sat with her, praying and willing her to recovery whilst all the time knowing in their hearts that the woman they loved had gone".
O’Connor claimed that he and Joleen had been fighting over her mobile phone at the top of the stairs when he lashed out and knocked her down the stairs, claiming that she had got up and vomited at the back door.
The next morning, O'Connot had a bath and took the bus to Belfast with the couple's son where he had a hair cut - essentially leaving Joleen to die.
Sentencing O’Connor, Judge Miller said that his actions had to "be seen in the context of a man who used violence, both physical and psychological as a means of control" and was the culmination of continual domestic violence perpetrated against Joleen.
"One shudders to think what that little boy witnessed or heard," he sad,
It was heard that the couple's little boy, during a therapeutic play session, had used figurines to enact a scene where the male "warrior figure" struck the female toy "and then mimicked the male figure saying sorry over and over again".
He said O’Connor had expressed "some remorse" but "the question remains as to how far this goes" as he did not plead guilty until the last possible moment.
Judge Miller said that had O’Connor not confessed and been convicted by a jury, he would have been handed a 19-year minimum term.
Lynne Carlin, an Assistant Director in the Public Prosecution Service, praised the Corr family for their "courage" in their pursuit of justice for Joleen.
"While her family, including her young son, continue to try to cope with this devastating loss, I hope that this guilty verdict will bring some comfort to them," she said.
