An OAP was viciously strangled to death in her bed and sexually assaulted by her evil son-in-law after she refused to provide him with cigarettes. Simon Parks, who has been jailed for life, was drunk at the time of the attack and told a neighbour the great grandmother was "a horrible b*****d" and had wound him up.
Parks brutally murdered Mari O'Flynn inside her Newport home on May 24 at around 1.55pm, Wales Online reports. Emergency services were called out to the property at Leach Road in Bettws where they discovered the 79-year-old's body, partially unclothed, with bruised injuries over her face and neck.
The 52-year-old confessed to the murder of Mrs O'Flynn and told police he had became jealous of his mother-in-law after she moved in with him and his partner, Claire O'Flynn. The defendant punched the OAP in the face multiple times before strangling her to death.
It's also been reported that he sexually assaulted the victim but whether or not this happened before or after her murder is unknown.
Alcoholic Parks told police after his arrest: "I ended up strangling my would be mother-in-law over nothing... We had been living together 14 years fine and she turns up.... The most horrible b****** you have literally met in your life.... I'm not going to be able to live with myself after this."
Parks was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, where prosecutor Michael Jones KC said: "Mari O'Flynn was a vulnerable, frail 79-year-old lady who was on May 24 murdered in her bed by the defendant, who had consumed alcohol by the time he killed her. He harboured resentment and anger towards Mrs O'Flynn because she had moved in with his partner."
The court heard that Parks and the victim's daughter, Claire, had been in a long-term relationship for 14 years when Mairi moved from Greece to come and stay with them following the death of her husband in 2017. The killer had previously made multiple threats to the mother-of-three and had held a knife at her during a past argument.
The great-grandmother started living with Claire and Parks in 2021 but, due to the defendant's extreme dislike for the OAP, he decided to move out of the house and stay with friends. During this period, Parks developed an alcohol addiction and despite pursuing various rehabilitation treatments, he discharged himself and carried on drinking.
He was admitted to hospital just days before he killed Mrs O'Flynn but refused to be examined by medics. The relationship between Parks and his mother-in-law was very unsteady with the victim often too scared to be in the same living space as the defendant.
On the morning of the murder, Parks was described as "normal", "calm" and "sober". Claire left at around 5:45am for work and dropped Parks off at the Fourteen Locks shop in Rogerstone where he bought eight cans of Kronenbourg. He returned to the same store 20 minutes later to buy another four cans and cigarettes.
He was then spotted on CCTV walking back to Leach Road and at around 8am he entered the house where his partner and Mrs O'Flynn were living and attacked, murdered and sexually assaulted the victim. At 9:25am, Parks was seen leaving the property with a change of clothes on and was carrying a white tissue which he was using to dab his face.
He bought another six cans of Kronenbourg and a bottle of whiskey at the Spar store in Bettws at 9:36am, where he asked the shopkeeper for a tissue for the bloody injuries on his face. He then drank until he passed out on a bench and an ambulance was called which took him to Grange University Hospital at around 11am.
Again, Parks refused treatment and told hospital staff "I am absolutely fine, I just want to go home. My partner will go mental if I'm not there when she gets home".
The defendant arranged a taxi to drive him back to Leach Road at 12:43pm After a brief walk to the Spar to purchase more cigarettes, Parks returned to the house and confessed the murder to neighbour Paul Baston at 1.43pm.
Speaking to Mr Baston, Parks said: "I have done it now, I've killed her." When asked why he had done this, he responded: "Fags, I didn't have any cigarettes and I asked her for some and she wouldn't give me any. She wound me up so I strangled her."
Mr Baston entered the bedroom and found Mrs O'Flynn lying partially naked where he placed a quilt over her and checked her pulse. Parks asked him if she was dead, to which he replied "I believe so." The defendant said: "I have had it now haven't I?"
Police and paramedics were immediately called out to the scene and Parks was arrested while paramedics pronounced Mrs O'Flynn dead at 2:09pm. A post mortem revealed she had suffered blunt force injuries to her head and neck and sustained forceful pressure to the neck.
It was also confirmed that Mrs O'Flynn had been sexually assaulted by Parks after his DNA was uncovered in intimate parts of her body but forensic scientists were unable to determine whether she had been sexually assaulted before or after her death. Upon being arrested on suspicion of murder, Parks said: "Yeah I did it."
Mrs O'Flynn's youngest daughter Sarah Taylor read out a statement to the court which said it had been "unbearable" to think about the manner of her death.
In mitigation, David Elias KC said his client understand there was a sexual element to the murder but he could not remember this part of the assault. He said Parks' life had "spiralled out of control" and he was addicted to alcohol at the time of the murder.
He added that the defendant had admitted to a a psychiatrist he was "ashamed" of what he had done and said "I can't believe it". Sentencing, the Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: "You assaulted her both physically and sexually and strangled her until she was dead. She fought for her life, biting you and scratching your face until you bled.... You left Mrs O'Flynn lying dead in her own bed... You have caused life long trauma and interminable grief to Mrs O'Flynn's family."
Giving Parks a reduction in his sentence for his guilty plea, Judge Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Parks to life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years. Once he has been released from prison, he will spend the rest of his life on licence.
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