| Flowers in Gods Garden
- Articles |
13/06/02
- ROSIE'S KILLER DROPS LEGAL
Hartlepool Mail
THE man at the centre of a legal battle with the killer
of toddler Rosie Palmer has been told the case has been
dropped.
Reformed gangster Bernard O'Mahoney was due to face
the murderer of Hartlepool girl Rosie Palmer in the
Royal Courts of Justice next month Child killer Shaun
Armstrong, who is serving a life sentence for the 1994
murder, was using taxpayer's money to sue Mr O'Mahoney
for £15,000.
He claims his confidence was breached when letters he
wrote to the crime author were later passed to the police.
But Mr O'Mahoney claims Armstrong has now pulled out
of the case after taking advice from an independent
barrister.
Today, he told the Hartlepool Mail : "It's good
that this doesn't have to be dragged through the courts
but I'm a bit sick really because I was looking forward
to exposing his lies in court. "They said in view
of the barrister's advice, they were going to reconsider
the merits of the case and yesterday they told me it
had been withdrawn."
Three-year-old Rosie was abducted and murdered after
she went to buy an ice-lolly just yards from her home
in Henrietta Street on the Headland. Three days later,
her battered and sexually abused body was found in a
bin-liner in Armstrong's first-floor flat in nearby
Frederic Street.
Armstrong confessed to murder just minutes before he
was to face a trial at Leeds Crown Court and was sentenced
to life. During his time on remand, Armstrong built
up a pen friendship with Mr O'Mahoney who duped the
killer into believing he was corresponding with a woman
called Laurna Jane Stevens.
Some of the letters detailed sickening aspects of Armstrong's
crime and an alleged confession. Mr O'Mahoney went to
the police with the letters and intends to write a book
about the killer.
But when Armstrong heard about the project, he started
legal action against Mr O'Mahoney claiming his confidence
was breached and his right to a private life was violated.
The murderer claims the letters were obtained under
false pretences and his privacy was breached when they
were later handed to the police.
The case was due to be heard in London on Monday, July
8, with Mr O'Mahoney having to foot the bill for the
proceedings himself while Armstrong was granted legal
aid. But it is believed pre-trial statements made by
Armstrong were reviewed by an independent barrister
who advised the case should be dropped.
Elkan Abrahamson, Armstrong's solicitor, refused to
comment on the matter today. But Mr O'Mahoney claimed
Armstrong's statements were peppered with lies. "He
claimed he never sexually abused Rosie and claims her
home was a half-way house," he said.
"He is a really callous man who has destroyed that
family. He portrays himself as remorseful but I don't
see that one bit." He added: "I feel a bit
cheated really because I was relishing the day I could
question him about the comments he has made."
Mr O'Mahoney said he now intendeds to send Armstrong's
statements to the parole board. "I shall do that
every year so they know what sort of person he is. Hopefully
he won't ever walk among our children again," he
said.
Campaigners on the Headland welcomed Mr O'Mahoney's
claims the case had been dropped. Kevin Kelly, a former
member of the Rosie Palmer Foundation, said: "The
community wouldn't have wanted this in court. It would
have opened old wounds." |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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