Man who murdered his ex-girlfriend with hammer 'so nobody else could have her' will soon be released

Patrick O'Connor was jailed for life in 2002 for a brutal attack on his teenage girlfriend Samantha Walsh at a Fleetwood bus stop.

The judge in his case at Preston Crown Court recommended O’Connor should serve the the highest tariff available at the time, 15 years, but after the tariffs were revised a few years later, he went on record to say he would have imposed a greater sentence.

Now, 22 years after his incarceration, the Post understands that the Ministry of Justice has held a parole hearing and that O’Connor will be released on licence this month.

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A HM Prison and Probation Service spokesperson said: “Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and we do not hesitate to recall them to prison if they break the rules.” 

What happened?

Preston Crown Court heard in March 2002 that O'Connor killed Samantha Walsh as he was consumed with jealousy after the 17-year-old ended their relationship. He had stalked her for days before carrying out his ferocious attack and sent a text message warning her: "If I can't have you, no one can."

Then, in broad daylight, he lay in wait at a bus stop in Leyburn Avenue, Fleetwood, and bludgeoned her around the head with a builder's brick hammer – an attack witnessed by a group of schoolchildren.

Blackpool Sixth Form College student Samantha, of Broadway, Fleetwood, died the following day from her horrific injuries.

Police found O'Connor, who had barricaded himself in his bedroom at his home in Medlock Place, Fleetwood. He was sitting on his bed with a black diary, his wrists cut.

A jury of six men and six women took three-and-a-half hours to find the then 20-year-old guilty of murder. O'Connor had pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility – a plea which had not been accepted by the Crown.

Sentencing him to life imprisonment, Judge Peter Openshaw said O'Connor posed a great danger to the public. He said: "Samantha Walsh was only 17, a loving and caring daughter and sister on the threshold of life. You planned her murder, stalked her for two days, watching and waiting each morning. When you did strike, you did so with the most terrible ferocity and brutality, in view of children on their way to school, with a hammer you had bought specially."