Deirdre Arnold is enjoying her freedom after she was moved from the Dochas women’s prison to a halfway house in Dublin’s north inner city
Deirdre Arnold is enjoying her freedom after she was moved from the Dochas women’s prison to a halfway house in Dublin’s north inner city.
Earlier this week, Thompson posted on social media celebrating her release from lock-up.
In the post, she wrote: “Great to be out … can’t wait for the reunion.’
Arnold, from Kilbarrack in north Dublin, was sentenced to two years in July this year with her trial judge noting she “had not fully come to terms” with her role in the crime.
Deirdre Arnold’s Facebook posts boasting of freedom
Sentencing judge Mr Justice Patrick McGrath said that this was a “difficult case” and there was no doubt Arnold (42) was subjected to appalling domestic abuse and considerable violence at the hands of murderer Brian McHugh during the course of their relationship.
Deirdre Arnold was moved out of the Dochas women’s prison
News in 90 Seconds – Sunday, November 9th
Abuse
The Central Criminal Court heard that Arnold, who in a “terrible twist of fate” became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine after meeting McHugh, had previously made domestic abuse complaints and got an interim barring order against him.
In March this year, Brian McHugh (40), with a former address at Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun in Dublin, was jailed for life for murdering 52-year-old Ms Thompson, after a jury found he had inflicted 11 stab wounds to her chest and wrapped a blind cord around her neck.
Deirdre Arnold’s Facebook posts boasting of freedom
Evidence was heard at McHugh’s trial that Ms Thompson was dealing prescription drugs from her home. Gardai who searched the house found thousands of tablets worth nearly €50,000 hidden in the attic.
The trial was told that Ms Thompson and McHugh had a “bit of a fling” in the year before she died.
In a separate trial last April, a jury agreed with the prosecution that Arnold was not an “innocent abroad” and had “decided at every turn” to assist her then-partner McHugh, whom she knew to have murdered mother-of-two Ms Thompson.
The jury unanimously accepted the State’s case that Arnold impeded McHugh’s prosecution by driving him to Ms Thompson’s home, at Sandyhill Gardens in Ballymun, on May 9, 2022, where she waited outside for “well over an hour” before driving him away from the scene.
Arnold later checked McHugh into the Clayton Hotel near Dublin Airport in an effort to help him evade prosecution.
It was also the prosecution’s case that Arnold allowed her silver Hyundai Tucson to be used to dispose of evidence taken from Ms Thompson’s home.
Before delivering sentence, Mr Justice McGrath said Arnold was in a very abusive relationship with McHugh and there was no doubt he was particularly aggressive and violent to her on a number of occasions.
“To some extent she was under his dominion and became a user of heroin no doubt due to the appalling abuse he visited on her in the course of their relationship,” he added.
The judge went on to say the court had heard that McHugh had allegedly broken Arnold’s arm by holding it on the bottom of a stairway and stamping on it.
Lisa Thompson was stabbed and strangled
“One can only imagine the pain and terror Ms Arnold was suffering in the course of that relationship,” he said.
Mr Justice McGrath said McHugh had also made threats against Arnold’s children and behaved in a “monstrous fashion” towards her in their relationship.
There was little doubt, he said, that Arnold was in fear of him and what might happen to her children at his hands.
Letter
Referring to a letter from Arnold, the judge said he accepted it was a genuine expression of remorse on her part, where she said she wished she had acted differently or recognised the warning signs from McHugh.
The judge said Arnold also outlined in her letter that she did not expect forgiveness but wanted the Thompson family to know she was truly sorry for their loss and would never forget the consequences of that day.
Mr Justice McGrath pointed out that Arnold’s daughter had also written a letter to the court, where she called the defendant a devoted mother and said she was “the glue that holds the family together”.
Arnold’s daughter, he said, had asked for a second chance for her mother, whom she called a victim of domestic abuse, which she had tried to hide from their family.
The judge also mentioned a letter from Arnold’s mother, who said her daughter was under the control of the “monster” Brian McHugh and had feared for her life and the lives of her children.