Keiron Tourish News NI
A man who placed his dead father in a refrigerator, preventing his lawful burial has been sentenced to a three-year jail term at Londonderry Crown Court.
The judge ordered John Garrett O’Sullivan, 56, to spend half of that time in custody and half on licence, saying he had caused misery to his family.
The body of 86-year old Noel O’ Sullivan, a retired orthodontist and father-of-three, was found wrapped in a duvet and plastic sheets at the family home in Culmore Road in Derry.
His son, who has a PhD in engineering, admitted preventing his lawful burial between the 1 and 18 July 2024.
Warning: This court report contains details which some readers may find very distressing.
Body found after police forced entry
After his father died, his head was placed into a fridge and his body was surrounded by the open door of a second fridge.
There was a large nappy on his head and hands and he had a wet wipe type cloth inserted in his mouth.
His body had been lying for some time.
Police say there was an odour when they forced entry to the house after they received a “concern for safety” call from the victim’s daughter.
John O’Sullivan had told police he did not call a doctor as his father was already dead and placed his body in a fridge as that was what they did at Altnagelvin hospital.
He also said he did not call anyone after his father had died as he wanted to preserve his privacy and dignity.
He was denied bail and remained in custody until the case concluded at Bishop Street courthouse on Tuesday.
The court was told he had given “no comment” responses to all police interviews.
He was deemed fit to stand trial and had no criminal record.
He was assessed as a medium risk of further offending.
Slept in garage
The prosecution said there were several aggravating features, including the purchase of plastic sheets and bed mats and the fact the son had failed to alert police or others about his father’s death and the location of his body.
A prosecutor said he also asked the local health service what to do when there was a sudden death but ignored the advice given to him.
The defence said O’Sullivan believed that he had delayed the lawful burial of his father, rather than preventing it.
A defence solicitor said it was a sad and distressing case, but argued that it was not a case of the deliberate attempt to obstruct justice.
He said that the defendant was continuing to engage with the community mental health team.
In a statement to police, the defendant said he absolutely denied any wrongdoing or mistreatment of his father.
The judge said it was a tragedy for the O’Sullivan family.
She said John Garrett O’Sullivan had been responsible for the indignity and degradation his father endured and he had caused misery for the family.
The court heard details of the defendant’s mental health issues.
At 28 years of age, he had returned home after a deterioration in his mental health and had a nervous breakdown in the 1990s.
He also received care in Gransha hospital in Derry in 2010.
The court was told he slept in an area in the family garage and had a difficult relationship with his father.
Distorted view on how to preserve his father’s dignity
The judge said it was clear that his father had had a miserable last few days of his life.
She said the defendant had failed to call the emergency services or alert police about his death or disclose the location of his body.
He had also failed to disclose this information that his father had died to social workers who had called to the house on the Culmore Road.
The judge said that he had a distorted view on how to preserve his father’s dignity.
She also said that he had opted to withhold access to his GP notes and recent psychiatric reports.
The judge said that he had caused considerable harm to surviving family members and said he was not to approach any of them without by prior approval.