Sister didn't want to report mother missing, court told

The son of a woman whose body was found chopped up in the Wicklow mountains, has told the Central Criminal Court that his sister did not want to report her missing.

He also agreed he had described the man accused of the murder as a fool and a moron, and said his sister "wore the trousers" in the relationship.

Richard O'Connor was giving evidence in the trial of Kieran Greene who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 61-year-old Patricia O'Connor on 29 May 2017.

Mr O'Connor's sister, Louise, her daughter, Stephanie and her father Keith Johnston have denied impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Mr Greene.

Richard O'Connor told the court there was a "fair bit of friction" in the house at Mountainview park in Rathfarnham where his sister lived with their parents, her five children and her partner, Kieran Greene.

He said it stemmed from Louise and her family living in the home and not keeping up with the usual upkeep of the house.

Mr O'Connor said Louise had been on the housing list "waiting for a free house" since her first child Stephanie was born, 20 years previously.

He told the court his mother, Patricia, retired from her job as a cleaner in Beaumont Hospital in 2016.  She was at home more often, he said, and was able to see what was being done or not being done. 

When she was working she would come home and have to tidy up and when he and his family would arrive for a visit, they would be tidying up.  He said not enough was being done for the amount of people living in the house.

Mr O'Connor said this put a strain on his mother as she wanted to relax but spent every day cleaning up and "a lot of strains and stresses" were showing up.  He said he had seen his mother giving out and telling Louise and her partner, Kieran Greene to "move their lazy arses" and get tidying up after their kids.  Most of the time, he said it was directed at Louise, as Kieran used to do a little bit. 

Mr O'Connor said he would try to calm the situation down and was always stuck in the middle.

He said he would advise his sister and constantly told her to give up her dream of having a free house.  He said he told her to get out and rent a place, and her relationship with their mother would improve.

He described his mother as a straight shooter who would tell them if they were in the wrong and give you a "kick in the arse" if you needed one.  His father was easy going and was happy with Louise and her family staying in the house.

Mr O'Connor said he hadn't been over in a while around the time of his mother's disappearance as every time he rang up, he was told everyone was sick.  He said he could only contact his mother through Louise. He said Louise broke her own phone and took her mother's, saying she was going to replace it but she never did.

He said he rang Louise after his birthday on 30 May passed without any contact from his mother. She told him their mother had stormed out of the house in anger, with a suitcase after an argument.  She hadn't seen her but had heard her shouting abuse, he said.

He was worried and advised his sister to ring their mother's relatives in Kilkenny to see if they had heard from her.

On 1 June, he went over to the house and he said he and his father agreed to report Mrs O'Connor missing. He said Louise didn't want them to report anything.

He described walking to the shops with Kieran Greene on 11 June.  He said he was worried about his mother and was querying things and talking to him but he said there "wasn't a budge out of him". He told gardaí Mr Greene "never f***ing blinked".  And he said his mood was always the same.  He said he had an amicable relationship with him.

The court heard Richard O'Connor was interviewed voluntarily by gardaí in September 2017.  He was shown CCTV footage and identified a person coming back into the house through the back door just after 10pm on the night Mrs O'Connor was allegedly killed, as his niece, Stephanie O'Connor.

Under cross examination, from Mr Greene's defence counsel, Conor Devally, Mr O'Connor agreed the house was packed.  He said his mother had left home when he was ten years old but he had maintained a relationship with her.

He agreed she moved back into the house after around 15 to 18 years even though his father, Gus had said she couldn't.  His father and mother had separate rooms after this, and he agreed that this enhanced the overcrowding in the house.

He agreed he had told gardaí he had noticed his mother getting highly strung after her retirement in 2016.  He said there were arguments continuing all the time and nothing was being done in the house, at all.

Mr O'Connor agreed with Mr Devally that he had described Mr Greene to gardaí as a fool and a moron.  He was someone who listened more than he contributed, he said.

He said his sister would be "cute enough" and in response to a question from Mr Devally agreed that Louise "wore the trousers in the relationship". He said he thought the dynamic between his sister and Mr Greene was "a very odd situation".

Mr O'Connor also agreed his mother was a bit of a doer, hated laziness and was an active person.  He said she was strong but very small.

The court heard that Louise O'Connor and her children had moved back into the house in Rathfarnham in early July 2017. 

Patricia O'Connor's husband, Gus, had moved to Co Meath with Richard O'Connor where he still lives.  Mr O'Connor said there was tension about why Louise had gone back to the house. He said his father didn't want them there and they were served with a notice to quit.

The court heard that in May 2018, Mr O'Connor gave gardaí a recording of a telephone call between his father and Louise, which he was also a party to. He said his father rang Louise but it was his idea. 

He said he recorded it because he knew he had been told a lot of lies. He said his father knew what he was ringing Louise about, but he had intervened during the call because of the lies that were being told.