Murdered Concepta Leonard let down by police, says friend

Concepta Leonard was described as a talented musician who had taught children how to play the piano and the accordion

A woman who was murdered by her ex-partner in her home in County Fermanagh was let down by the police, one of her closest friends has said.

Concepta Leonard, 51, was stabbed to death by Paedar Phair near Maguiresbridge in May 2017.

Her son Conor Gallagher, who has Down's syndrome, was injured in the attack, after which Phair took his own life.

An inquest into Ms Leonard's killing opened on Tuesday and heard evidence from her brother and a friend.

Sinead McKenna described how Ms Leonard had been scared after being threatened by Phair, and how they had "worked out a rota" to ensure people were with her as often as they could be.

She said Phair had continued to phone and send text messages to Ms Leonard, who was known as Connie, after their relationship had ended.

Ms McKenna said she had been present when at least one phone call was made to Ms Leonard's home landline from an unknown number.

She believed the call was from Phair and she said a number of the calls were reported to the police in nearby Lisnaskea.

"I feel police in Lisnaskea were dreadful in how they dealt with Connie," said Ms McKenna.

"They did not tell her much, did not reassure her.

"Connie was very brave - she did the hardest thing which was getting rid of him.

"She was trying to get her life like back together. The system let Connie down."

Becoming tearful, Ms McKenna said: "She should be here today."

Concepta Leonard's son Conor Gallagher, pictured at her funeral in 2017, confronted Paedar Phair during the attack

Belfast Coroners' Court also heard a statement that Ms Leonard's son, who was aged 30 at the time of the attack, had given to the police about how the incident unfolded.

He said he and his mother had been preparing to have tea and scones together when Phair arrived at the house, threatened her with a knife and subsequently stabbed her.

Mr Gallagher told the attacker: "Put away the knife and go back to jail."

Phair stabbed Mr Gallagher in the stomach before leaving but Mr Gallagher was able to raise the alarm.

'Concepta changed so much'

Ms Leonard had secured an emergency non-molestation order against Phair and she had been due to go to court for a permanent one.

At the inquest her brother was also critical of the police, who he said missed opportunities to stop Phair getting close to her.

"I feel that Concepta was let down by some of the agencies," he said.

"There was opportunities missed whenever there were breaches of the non-molestation order to arrest Phair and that would have been a different future to the way things are now."

He described how the family had reservations about Mr Phair due to his "bad reputation", adding: "He was not someone I would have in my circle.

"Connie was such a good girl - she said to me: 'Everyone deserved a second chance,'" he told the inquest.

The attack happened at the house that Concepta Leonard shared with her son Conor

"Concepta changed so much - we would have often rang each other, conversations kept getting shorter and shorter.

"Concepta didn't want to talk - I thought I'd done something to offend her."

He said he had noticed that his sister's friends were staying with her in her house but she had been reluctant to tell him much.

"She told me she had got an emergency non-molestation order but I had no idea of what was going on up until that time, had no idea what Phair's capacity for violence was," he said.

Mr Leonard said his sister believed the non-molestation order would give her some security.

He described her as a talented musician who had taught children how to play the piano and the accordion.

"Concepta was very much loved and is still very much loved by all our family," he said.

"She was a great home-maker ... a fantastic mother to Conor and a great sister to all of us, a great daughter to Daddy and our late mother."

The inquest continues.