Dad of two kids murdered by mum in car fire says he’s lost without his ‘little rascals’

Lynn Eagar, a mother-of-four with no previous convictions was jailed for life today after she pleaded guilty to murdering Thelma Dennany (5) and her little brother Mikey (2)

In a statement to the court, their father, Michael Dennany, told how money he had saved to build an extension on their home so the children could have their own room was instead spent on burying them.

"I am nothing now but an empty shell. There's no purpose to life. I don't belong anywhere. I am an outsider looking in," he told the court.

When asked by Mr Justice Paul McDermott if psychiatric reports had been sought in relation to "a particular course of action" prior to Lynn Eagar entering her guilty plea, the 49-year-old defendant's barrister said he had been instructed "not to put anything of that nature before you."

The court heard that text messages sent by Eagar before she murdered her children showed a perception that it was in her interest and the interests of the children that, in her words, "they wouldn't hurt any more".

The court heard today that Thelma was so badly burned that people at the scene were not even aware she was in the back seat. Her little brother, who she adored, was pulled from the car but could not be saved.

Their mother was in the passenger seat and was pulled to safety by a passerby and suffered only "minimal burns", the court heard.

Michael Dennany wrote a statement for the court that was read by Detective Inspector Thomas Quinn.

Mr Dennany, his family and their supporters wept as they heard his words: "Thelma and Mikey’s births were the two happiest days of my life. Being a daddy was something I thought I'd never experience, but holding Thelma for the first time, I was probably the most terrified but happiest man alive. I was smitten."

When Mikey arrived two and a half years later, "Thelma was the best big sister," he said. "She wanted to do everything for him - feed him, change him, hold him. I thought she'd lose interest but no.

"From the moment they met, they were stuck together like glue: Fearless, mischievous partners in crime. I had so many plans, hopes and dreams for us. But all that's gone. All I'm left with are photos and memories. What ifs and if onlys."

When Mr Dennany left for work that day, his children were still asleep.

He said: "I didn't get the chance to say goodbye. I used to come home after work to a busy home. Full of noisy toys, giggles, and love. The toys are still there, but there's no noise, no giggle, no joy; nothing but silence, heartache, and despair.

"I miss Thelma and Mikey racing to meet me. Climbing into the jeep, unclipping my seatbelt for me. Talking over each other; asking where I was and what I had been doing. Before they died, I could count on one hand the number of times I'd cried - and two of them were the days they were born. Now I am constantly crying or on the verge of it."

The day that they died, Mr Dennany had planned to go collecting chestnuts with his children after school.

"We never got to do that," he said. "They were my life and their deaths have ripped the guts out of me. Daddy should have been there to protect them. When they needed me the most, I was useless. I am nothing now but an empty shell. There's no purpose to life. I don't belong anywhere. I am an outsider looking in."

Thelma loved school and football and "couldn't understand why they had to take weekends and holidays off. She was mad to learn to read and write."

Her little brother was her "echo", Mr Dennany said. "He copied everything she did. He was nearly three. His little personality was only starting to shine. He loved tractors, diggers - all machinery. And the two of them would spend hours in the jeep, playing taxi - fighting over whose turn it was to drive."

He said he had hoped to see his children through school and "at a push to see them married, but I never thought I would bury them... The only comfort I have is that they are together forever."

Mr Dennany described the reminders of his children all over the house they shared. "Their handprints on the wall going up the stairs. Their fishing rods in the corner. An unused sitting room full of toys."

He recalled their excitement when he was preparing to build an extension to their home. "The spatter of red oxide paint on the gravel and paths about the house are a hard-wearing reminder of happier times, and a testament to Thelma and Mikey's messy efforts at painting."

"I thought we were making memories for them, similar to the one's I have of helping my father to build our house. Little did I know I was making happy memories for me.

"And it's those memories on lonely dark nights that chase the horror of their deaths away. The extension never got built. They never got their own room. The money I had saved to build it was spent on burying them.

"Thelma and Mikey were beautiful. They always had a wave and a hello for everybody. That day robbed them of growing up. It robbed them of birthdays, communions, confirmations. Robbed us all. I miss my little rascals.

"I'm lost here without them. I'm only biding my time until we're together again. Given the chance to grow up, they mightn't have changed the world but they definitely would have made it a better place."

Ms Eagar also wrote a letter which was read out by her barrister Sean Gillane SC. She apologised to everyone she had hurt, for the "pain, horror and suffering" she had caused to her family and to her two "gorgeous children".

"Looking back, there were other avenues I could and should have travelled," she wrote. "I'm full of regret."

Lynn Eagar (49) with an address of Winetown, Rathowen, County Westmeath, was charged with the murders of Thelma (5) and Michael Dennany (2) at Lackan, Multyfarnham on September 9, 2022. With a barely audible whisper she pleaded guilty this morning when the two charges were put to her.

Detective Inspector Quinn told prosecution counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC that Ms Eagar lived with Mr Dennany, their two children and two older children Ms Eagar has from a previous relationship. On the day of the murders, Mr Dennany left for work at about 6.30am and Ms Eagar dropped Thelma to national school and Michael to a preschool for toddlers.

Ms Eagar collected Michael at 12.15pm and Thelma at 2pm and was seen on CCTV driving around the area up to about 3pm. Shortly after 3pm Ms Eagar sent a number of texts at the same time to Mr Dennany and other members of her own family and Mr Dennany's family.

She indicated later to gardai that she wrote the texts with the phone in airplane mode so that they were all sent together when she again connected the phone to the internet.

Those messages, Det Insp Quinn said, showed Ms Eagar's perception of difficulties in her own life and "a perception that it was in her interest and the interests of the children that, in her words, they wouldn't hurt any more."

Her phone stopped operating at about 3.05pm when the detective said it appears she set fire to the car, a blue Lexus.

Various members of the public arrived at the scene and immediately contacted the emergency services and gardai. A courier driver and a passerby tried to assist and pulled Ms Eagar from the front passenger seat. They could see Mikey "leaning on the armrest between the two front seats, like a statue, not making a sound."

Moments later the car, which was already burning, "burst into flames". Thelma, who had been in a car seat in the footwell between the rear seat and passenger side front seat, was "unrecognisable even as a person in the rear of the car," the inspector said.

There were "extensive and significant efforts to revive" Mikey but, the inspector said, "it was clear to first responders that was not going to be successful."

Ms Eagar was brought to hospital having received "minimal burns to twelve percent of her body," Det Insp Quinn said.

She was arrested on 21st September and interviewed by gardai. During those interviews she admitted that she had set the car alight, causing the deaths of her children.

She said she brought a red plastic can filled with petrol from the shed of her home, placed it in the rear footwell and dropped a lit fire-lighter into it to start the blaze.

An expert report by UK specialist Barry Kent concluded that Thelma was in a child's seat in the rear passenger side footwell between the front and back seats.

Mikey had been in the space between the two front seats facing the back of the car. Mr Kent said the fire began in the rear passenger compartment by the passenger side door.

Ms Eagar has no previous convictions and has been in custody since September 22 last year. In December last year she was transferred to the Central Mental Hospital.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott asked if psychiatric reports had been sought in relation to "a particular course of action" prior to Ms Eagar entering her guilty plea. Mr Gillane, representing Ms Eagar, said that this is a case "where there are sensitivities and I am instructed not to put anything of that nature before you."

Passing sentence, Mr Justice McDermott said that the court is "not a place where the devastation and loss and grief that is clearly caused by these offences can in any way be diminished.

"Life is precious and these two young lives, these two children have lost theirs, causing the utter loss and grief which has been expressed and is evident from those who knew and loved these children and engaged with them during their short lives."

He explained that his jurisdiction is limited to the "mandatory sentence of life which I now impose. It will do little to reduce the suffering and loss of those here but that is the order of the court." He imposed a life sentence in respect of each count of murder.

"I can only express my commiserations to everyone concerned and to all who loved and cherished Thelma and Mikey," he concluded.

Outside court Gda Martina Walsh read out a statement on behalf of the family, which read: “Thelma and Michael were happy fun-loving children overflowing with love and mischief. Had they grown up they might have changed the world because they changed ours.

“Their absence has cast a shadow on our lives. That shadow is testament to the brightness of their light.

“We are utterly lost without them.”