It was described by the trial judge as one of the most extraordinary cases he had heard - how Thomas O'Connor killed his father then made it look like suicide. He later made an emotional confession. This is the story of a man, brutalised by his father, who literally got away with Murder.

Thomas O'Connor admitted killing his father with a bread knife - three years after the death had been treated as suicide.

O'Connor, who had "In memory of Dad" tattooed on his arm, made the revelation when he was aged 19 and had fled to Scotland after carrying out a £1,300 robbery in the Laindon Centre.

A Brentwood coroner recorded a suicide verdict in 1985 following the death of Thomas O'Connor senior.

Both pathologists and police had been satisfied that the 45-year-old had lodged a knife in his own stomach.

Thomas O'Connor senior, who at the time was lodging in Lincoln Road, Basildon, was rushed to Basildon Hospital for emergency treatment to his severed aorta but died later that night on the operating table.

Then, in 1988, Thomas O'Connor junior revealed his guilty secret and told police: "I have tortured myself for years and I just could not handle it any more.

"At least when I have taken my punishment I will not have to keep looking over my shoulder."

Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Thomas, a father of seven, subjected his eldest son to a life of squalor and violence for more than ten years.

He was frequently whipped, punched and was once forced to wear his mother's blouse to school.

In August 1985 Thomas, then 16, returned from the cinema and plunged a knife into his drunken father's chest as he lay screaming for something to eat from his bed in the family's Clayburn Circle home.

It is believed Thomas started cutting up sandwiches but decided on the spur of the moment to put the knife to lethal use.

Because of the mitigating circumstances O'Connor, whose address given in court in 1988 was Mellow Purgess, Laindon, was sentenced to three years' probation.

He denied a charge of murder but pleaded guilty to robbery and manslaughter.

Catholic priest John Armitage, stood by the youngster and urged the court to let the young Thomas go free.

He told how Thomas had to take on the role of father to his brothers and sisters when their dad ducked his responsibilities.

The former priest of St Basil's church, Basildon, said at the time: "The boy used to come and see me all the time pleading for help. His robbery was obviously a cry for help."

On hearing the evidence, Judge Peter Greenwood said it was one of the most extraordinary cases he had ever dealt with.

Before passing sentence he said: "I accept that this young man suffered a nightmare at the hands of his father, who was a brute. His suffering could have made him a very unhappy and possibly damaged young man.

"While I am concerned about the robbery, I feel these matters would be dealt with by making a probation order, and underline the importance of keeping to it."

At the initial inquest Rita O'Connor, the victim's estranged wife, told how she heard a yell from upstairs as she watched television.

She claimed she saw the protruding knife and called an ambulance. Mrs O'Connor, who had since remarried and whose married name was Jackson, said the marriage had been stormy.

She said her husband was a heavy drinker who sometimes hit her and spoke of wanting to drink himself to death.

On the night of his death she said she and her eldest son had gone to the cinema leaving Thomas senior on the sofa crying.

She said: "Thomas had been staying here for a couple of days to see if we could sort out our problems. He used to get argumentative after a drink but our eldest were put in care while we sorted everything out.

"We had a little argument in the day as he was upset because he couldn't see the children."

At the inquest Thomas junior claimed his father wanted to kill himself but wanted other people to do it. The then teenager told the inquest his father would get a knife and say: "Do it, do it."

Thomas said he ignored his father because he was drunk.

At the time police said O'Connor "grunted and nodded" when they asked if he had put the knife in himself.

When her son confessed three years later, the remarried Mrs Jackson, living in Rettendon View, Wickford, was questioned by police but no charges were brought.

Murdered - O'Connor's brutal father Thomas senior

Tough nut who turned to crime

The latest rape charges are not Thomas O'Connor's first brush with the law. The man, who suffered a tough upbringing at the hands of his father, was later to turn to crime.

A tough nut, he grew up to spend much of his life avoiding the law.

In 1992 he was jailed for six years for robbing two greengrocers of £1,360 at the Laindon Centre.

He walked free from a rape charge in 1990 after the prosecution failed to submit sufficient evidence.

Thomas, who was then aged 21 and an apprentice carpenter, was initially granted conditional bail.

He was later remanded in custody by Billericay magistrates after he breached bail conditions.

The charges were alleged to have occurred in January 1990 in Purcell Close, Laindon.

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