He was buried on Saturday at St Colman’s Cemetery in Dromore Co Down following Requiem Mass at Newry Cathedral
Throat slasher John Paul Walker was struck by an SUV in Monaghan town four weeks ago but only passed away last weekend.
He was buried on Saturday at St Colman’s Cemetery in Dromore Co Down following Requiem Mass at Newry Cathedral.
The 47-year-old from Dromore Co Down has been described in court as a serial abuser with convictions on both sides of the border.
In February 200 Walker tried to murder his then girlfriend Judith Ervine after attacking her and stabbing her with a knife.
He then went on the run after being allowed temporary release from Magilligan Prison in 2002 and the authorities didn’t catch up with him until 2004.
The criminal had brazenly turned up at Down Royal for a festive meeting just two days after Christmas but he was recognised after a newspaper had run his picture the day before in a feature about prisoner who were unlawfully at large.
It’s understood since getting of jail for that back in 2010 on licence he remained heavily involved with crime and was known to be involved in theft and in dealing drugs.
“Walker was well known in the world of crime around south Armagh and Monaghan. He wasn’t a major player but he was well into drugs and thefts. He wasn’t the nicest of guys for sure.
“But people in Banbridge and Dromore are still shocked to hear about him dying like this.”
Walker was a pedestrian when he was struck by a car in the early hours of Saturday September 6 following a night out in Monaghan town.
He was taken by ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda but he lost his fight for life three weeks later.
According to his death notice he later passed away last Saturday, September 27, “peacefully in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, surrounded by his loving family”.
At the time of the original road traffic incident police appealed for witnesses who may have seen what happened.
They said the collision, which happened on the Broad Road shortly before 01:00 local time, involved an SUV car and a pedestrian.
Gardaí said this week in the aftermath of him passing away they were continuing to investigate the circumstances of the collision and are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.
“The coroner has been notified and a post-mortem examination will be arranged,” read a garda statement.
“Gardaí continue to investigate the circumstances of the collision and are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.”
Gardaí have urged any road users who were in the area between 12.30am and 1.30am on September 6 and who may have camera footage to make it available to investigators.
Magilligan medium security prison near Limavady in Co Derry.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Monaghan Garda Station on 047 77 200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111 or any garda station.
Friends and relatives have been posting messages of condolence in the wake of his death.
His brother posted: “RIP JohnPaul Walker u were a header we fell out a lot times never knew you to tell a lie unless in a police cell.”
While another relative posted: “Rest in peace cousin john paul taken too soon. God only takes the best. You will never be forgotten and we will always say your name.”
In 2020 – 20 years after he was jailed for the attempted murder – Walker was charged with threatening another partner although he was later to be acquitted of that.
Walker “produced a large bread knife” and threatened to slit the woman’s throat, a detective constable told a bail hearing at Lisburn Magistrates’ Court back in 2020.
It was alleged he grabbed the woman’s hair and “punched her repeatedly in the ribs”, with evidence suggesting she suffered multiple fractures.
He also prevented her from leaving the property where the attack is said to have taken place, the court was told.
Appeared at the hearing via videolink from police custody he was charged with causing actual bodily harm, making threats to kill and false imprisonment.
When the allegations were put to him during a police interview, Walker “made counter allegations that he was also subjected to domestic-related assaults on multiple occasions”.
Objecting to the granting of bail, the detective constable said that the defendant was jailed in 2000 for the attempted murder of his former girlfriend and that he had been assessed as a “high-risk domestic violence offender” with convictions both north and south of the border.
In 2004 Walker was captured by police, the day after his picture appeared in a Sunday newspaper.
The brazen slasher – who had been unlawfully at large, since early 2002 – took a gamble by attending Down Royal Races and was spotted and scooped by cops.
He absconded from Magilligan Prison in April 2002 after being released on leave.
Walker’s death came just a few days before the shock death of another career criminal in Belfast being killed in a road traffic accident.
William ‘Buff’ Hunter, 37, was killed when his motorbike was involved in a collision on the Castlereagh Road at about 11.50pm last Sunday.
Hunter had been handed a 40-month sentence – half of which was to be served in jail – in September 2022 after being caught in a police operation targeting East Belfast UVF-linked drug dealing (a sentence which Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Treacy later suggested may have been “too lenient”).
Text messages from among his drug-dealing crew were revealed in the case, including talk about violence towards debtors who could not pay.
By the time of that 2022 conviction, Hunter had already amassed a string of previous convictions including for drugs, firearms, and money laundering, with Judge Richard Greene KC describing Hunter as “a career criminal” whose latest offences were “merely the most recent in a long line of offending that shows no sign of ending”.
His death notice read: “John Paul, beloved partner of Zara, a much-loved son of the late Philomena and Trevor Walker and loving brother of Trevor Heather, Declan, George, Lesley-Ann, and Kiera, Matthew, Ellie and the late Christopher.
“A dear brother- in-law and devoted uncle to Scott, Kirsty, Luke, Jordan, Shelley, Philip, Harry, Lottie, Lucy, Henry, Bertie, Oliver and Katie Rose and loving step-son of Debbie. Always loved and remembered by his family and circle of friends…
“…St Padre Pio pray for him…”
John Paul Walker
News in 90 Seconds – Tuesday October 7