Man who stabbed his partner 13 times jailed for manslaughter

Olivia Kelleher

A man who stabbed his partner at least 13 times, struck her with a Himalayan rock lamp and then left her alone at her home without calling for medical help has been jailed for 12 and a half years.

Sean Egan (39) was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility of Sharon Crean on December 14th, 2022, at College Avenue in Mountmellick, Co Laois.

The jury at a trial in Cork earlier this year heard that Crean (35) was discovered in the doorway of her apartment by a neighbour. She was conscious when her neighbour made the 999 call.

However, her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she died later that day.

The mother of one had suffered “at least 15 sharp force injuries,” of which “at least 13” were identified as stab wounds. Several stab wounds entered the chest cavity and were fatal.

Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defence agreed that the qualified electrician, who was formerly of Rathmiles in Portarlington, Co Laois, was suffering from a mental disorder when he committed the offence.

It was, however, determined that the qualified electrician was still able to know the nature and the quality of the act involved.

In their reports, he was variously described as being "impervious to reason,"psychotic at the time of interview, and suffering a " psychotic disorder with potential diagnosis of schizophrenia.”

However, both sides agreed that a verdict of not guilty by virtue of insanity was not applicable in the case.

Memos of garda interviews were read out during the trial. Egan had told gardaí that he took out the knife to use as a fear factor.

“I picked up the candlestick and cracked it over the head… I stabbed her two or three times in the side… I went in jest with the knife… She said, please, please… At no point did I think her life was taken.

Up until I struck her, I did not think I would do it. I can’t believe she is dead. I did not know I was penetrating her. I never stabbed anyone. If I can change the clocks, I would wind them back.”

The jury was told that Egan had left the scene. He returned 18 minutes later as his partner was being treated by paramedics.

At a sentencing hearing at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork on Thursday, Judge Siobhan Lankford said that the deceased was “hugely loved and a woman of great substance.”

She said that the young son of the late Sharon Crean had “lost a loving and committed mother” and offered her condolences to her family.

She set a 20-year headline sentence in the case. Judge Lankford indicated that she agreed with the DPP that the case should be placed “at the highest level in terms of culpability.”

The Judge described the actions of the on/off partner of Crean as a “gross breach of trust.” She described the attack as “ferocious” and noted that it was completely unprovoked.

Taking the verdict of the jury as regards diminished responsibility into consideration, as well as the expression of remorse of Egan, his admissions at the scene and the offer of a plea of manslaughter in the case, the Judge imposed a jail sentence of 13.5 years.

She suspended the final year of the sentence for two years with the condition that the father of three obey all the directions of the probation service following his release from custody.

The sentence was backdated to December 16th, 2022, when Egan first entered custody in relation to the case.

The court had heard that Crean was the much-loved eldest child in a family of seven. She was originally from Arklow in Co Wicklow.

Speaking outside the court, her brother Nigel said that his sister had not received justice.

“My sister is lying under six feet of clay while he (Egan) is being watered, fed, dressed and showered. And we are watering flowers (at her grave) and looking at a cold headstone.”

Catherine Crean said that she couldn’t understand the verdict in the case, given the violence her daughter suffered, the fear she endured, and “the sheer brutality of her injuries.

”She said that Sharon was “caring and loving” and expressed huge disappointment with the sentence imposed on Egan.