Bandon man Oliver Hayes was yesterday (Wednesday) sentenced to life in prison for the murder of widow Ann Corcoran. The 49-year from Clancool Terrace in Bandon beat 60-year-old Ms Corcoran with a stick and counter top after abducting her from her home in Kilbrittain in July of 2009.

After she died, he stole €3,000 from her bank account before burying her body in woods. He then went on a skiing holiday to Austria with his girlfriend and her son.

He was heavily in debt when he abducted Ms Corcoran, forced her to reveal her bank account details and left her for dead.

Search

Her disappearance from her home raised suspicions when her dogs were found uncared for. Local people turned out in their hundreds to conduct searches over nine days. Hayes had left Ms Corcoran at his home for two days before bringing her to a wooded area near Garretstown outside Bandon.

He was two years in arrears on his mortgage, owed €10,000 to his credit and had a string of other debts. He told Gardaí following his arrest that he attempted to burn her body in order to destroy any DNA evidence, before he concealed it under rubble close to a quarry.

No remorse

At his sentencing hearing yesterday (Wednesday), Mr Justice Paul Carney said apart from the gratuitous violence involved, one of the most chilling features of this case was Hayes's lack of genuine remorse over anything other than the suffering of Mrs Corcoran's dogs.

Mr Justice Carney jailed Hayes for life on the charge of murder. He also sentenced him to ten years in prison to run concurrently for false imprisonment and for five counts of theft and one count of attempted theft.

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