Cork woman relives night of terror when her friend was murdered

ON a devastating night in April, 2002, 19-year-old Sinéad O’Leary had her world turned upside down when she and her friend, Nichola Sweeney, were viscously assaulted in an unprovoked attack by Peter Whelan at Nichola’s home in Rochestown, Cork.

Tragically, Nichola, aged 20, lost her life that night and Sinéad, her schoolfriend at Scoil Mhuire, was left with serious injuries after being stabbed in a senseless act of violence.

In the random and motiveless attack, Nichola was stabbed 11 times by Whelan, and Sinead was stabbed more than 20 times.

In the next episode of Finné on TG4 on Wednesday, February 3, at 9.30pm, Sinéad recalls the harrowing events of that night almost 19 years ago, and her efforts to come to terms with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that resulted from it.

Whelan, who lived close to the scene of the crime, was jailed for life by a judge at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin for the attack, and Sinéad’s efforts to recover from the trauma have not been helped by her battle to prevent him being released on parole to her native Cork.