DAD STABBED WIFE 16 TIMES THEN TOLD SON 'YOU'RE NEXT'

A MAN murdered his wife of 34 years by thrusting a Samurai sword into her 16 times before turning to their son and telling him “you’re next”, a court heard.

- ALISON O'RIORDAN

Dillon Eagers told the court he had tried in vain to save his mother Jean as she was killed by his father William in their home, and now suffers constant night terrors and has undergone hours of therapy as a result.

William Eagers told gardai he couldn’t recollect what had happened during the attack on Father’s Day 2020 and claimed he “lost his memory and blacked out”.

Sentencing judge Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring noted the “horrific circumstances” of the killing and said no child should be put in the position where they see their father murder their mother “in circumstances that can only be described as terrible”.

The judge refused to backdate Eagers’ sentence to when he went into custody three years ago, stating this matter had been resolved at a “very very late stage in the proceedings”.

APOLOGISE

She added: “I note the family’s victim impact statements and the distress that the past three years has caused to them.