Heartache at ‘beautiful’ service for tragic Joleen

Heartache at ‘beautiful’ service for tragic Joleen

5 August 2020

A FINAL farewell was paid last week to tragic murder victim Joleen Corr who was fatally attacked by her partner in Downpatrick nearly four years ago.

Ms Corr’s family gathered at her graveside in Belfast last week to see her final remains interred after a lengthy court case last month which resulted in her former partner, Michael O’Connor (34), jailed for a minimum of 16 years after he pleaded guilty to her murder. 

Ms Corr was a 27 year-old mother of a toddler son when she was attacked in a domestic violence incident in her Russell Park home on December, 2016.

A court heard that O’Connor had punched Ms Corr so hard that he broke her jaw and propelled her down a flight of stairs, causing multiple injuries.

Evidence was given that O’Connor then left the young woman in the home without seeking treatment for her, leaving it to a neighbour to raise the alarm the next day.

The young beauty therapist was left in a coma due to horrific brain injuries and unable to recover having been left paralysed and in a vegetative state.

A decision to turn off her life support was taken in April, 2018 and Ms Corr died at the Northern Ireland Hospice a few days later, surrounded by her family.

O’Connor later had his charge of manslaughter changed to murder. 

Ms Corr’s mother Carol, who lives with her family in west Belfast, described the short service as “beautiful”.

“The priest said a few prayers. I held the wee box and just handed over her wee remains. It was awful but it went well,” she added.

“We let off balloons and we just cheered her name into the sky. We all gathered together and hugged each other and we all remembered Joleen.”