Patrick O’Connor pictured leaving prison.
At the Central Criminal Court in December 2010 four men were handed down the maximum sentence of ten years for disposing of and trying to destroy the body of the 30-year-old mother of two.
The body of the young woman was discovered in a burnt out car at Cod’s Lane, outside of Wexford town, on October 9th 2009. However, it was subsequently determined that Ms French had died at 16 Ard na Dara, Clonard, the home of one of the convicted men Patrick O’Connor.
O’Connor and Piotr Pasiak of Lower John Street pleaded guilty to impeding the investigation into the killing of Ms French.
The other men were Ricardas Dilys, 28, and Ruslanas Mineikas, 26, of Goodtide Harbour and formerly of Davitt Road South were on trial for her murder when they made the pleas.
They had pleaded not guilty to her murder, but the murder charges were dropped when a legal technicality meant their admissions in garda custody could not be used against them.
No one was prosecuted for the murder of Ms French. However, prior to the downgrading of the charges the prosecution’s case outlined that Dilys used a golf club to inflict three fractures to her skull, while Mineikas broke a number of her ribs by kicking and stamping.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy testified that she died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Speaking at the conclusion of the trial in Dublin, Judge Barry White described the killing of the 30-year-old as ‘brutal’ and ‘savage’.
In 2013, O’Connor lost an appeal against his jail sentence.
The final two years of the ten year sentences were suspended in the case of Minekas, Dylis and O’Connor and the final two and a half years in the case of Pasiak, who had no previous convictions.
This coupled with the fact that prison terms handed down in Irish courts automatically have a 25% remission applied and the convicted men were held in custody from the date of their original arrest meant that they were eligible for release on Saturday, October 10th.
It was confirmed to this newspaper that O’Connor was released a day earlier than expected in order to facilitate him meeting with the relevant social services and housing bodies. His release from prison coincided with the sixth anniversary of Ms French’s death.
The other men who are originally from Lithuania and Poland have left the country as per court direction stated at the time of their sentencing.
A garda source indicated that O’Connor is living outside of the county and is not expected to return to his former residence at Ard na Dara.
