A man who UK Police say “brutally attacked and killed” an 87-year-old pensioner in London last year has been convicted of murder.
87-year-old Thomas O’Halloran who was from Clare but was living in West London was attacked and killed by Lee Byer on his way home in his scooter in August 2022.
Investigation lead, Detective Chief Inspector Laura Nelson said: “First and foremost, my thoughts today are with Thomas’s family who continue to feel the loss of their much loved father and grandfather. His death was senseless.
“Detectives have conducted a meticulous investigation in order to establish the facts of Thomas’s death. Byer’s movements were tracked from his release from prison up to the day of the attack, enabling us to present evidence that could not be disputed. We have worked closely with the forensic command and their examinations have intrinsically linked Byer to the attack.
“We have worked in partnership with the CPS and mental health professionals in order to understand Lee Byer’s mental health. It is the conclusion of mental health experts that Byer was psychotic when he attacked and killed Thomas O’Halloran. The findings have been shared with Thomas’s family.” she said.
Byer had been released from prison only 5 days before launching the fatal attack on the old man.
The tragic pensioner had visited Tesco on Tuesday, 16 August 2022 and was returning home on his mobility scooter when the attack took place.
Police say Thomas “was often seen there busking with his accordion”.
At about 4pm he was attacked as he travelled in an underpass with CCTV capturing images of a man heading towards an underpass at the same time as Thomas.
“Moments later the same man was captured running from the scene with a knife in his hand. This person was later identified as Lee Byer.” police say.
Despite sustaining serious injuries Thomas managed to move forward on his scooter to nearby Runnymede Gardens to seek help.
He was assisted by London’s Air Ambulance attended, but despite the efforts of the a medical team he passed away at the scene.
Police say a post-mortem examination found that Thomas had been stabbed ten times and that his cause of death was “stab wounds to the chest and neck”.
Using CCTV police were able to recover the handle of the knife used in the attack and using DNA analysis which matched Byer, with Thomas’s DNA also being detected.
Byer was arrested on suspicion of murder in the early hours of Thursday, 18 August at his address at Allenby Road, Southall.
Upon arrest, Byer told police that he could not be guilty of the murder saying “I was in prison, I was in prison, so it is impossible – what you are talking about.”
Police say that during their investigation “no motive could be found for the attack and no evidence of any previous interaction was ever uncovered.”
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God bless Thomas Halloran. May he rest in peace.
This was a particularly horrific and evil killing of an elderly man, vulnerable in his final years. I have posted here recently how Blacks justify their abuse of elderly whites because of what they perceive as historic debt and grievances for slavery/discrimination/racism.
Living in London in the early 90’s I as very quickly disabused of the notion that Blacks were some poor, repressed minority. The area I was in had many Irish and many Blacks. There were regular attacks/muggings/assaults specifically targetting older Irish men on their way home late from the pub, when they would be easier prey and less able to defend themselves having spent the evening drinking. Never heard of even a single instance the other way around i.e. an elderly Black being attacked by an Irishman.
i can agree fully on this growing up in north London my own uncle was nearly a target in Holloway road when i was passing in a taxi as he was coming out of a pub surrounded by a good few i jumped out and got him in the cab fast before he got hurt or mugged
Look at American prisons and the raping blacks do to whites. I know prison can make you go a bit crazy but it shouldn’t make you go gay.What do they say to the wife when they get out? Do they even like their wife or do all black men want to ride white men.
“So the sisters in shawshank redemption probably should have been black guys”🤣
russia china and india need to be cut off from internet,i saaid b4 we need i.p. checker’s!!!
Imagine moving to another country to have a better life and being cut down by an import that had no business being there in the first place. Rip and my condolences to his family.
This horrific murder of innocent Thomas Halloran on 16th of August is the second of such killings of Irish men in this part of West London last year.
JJ Donnelly, a devout Catholic, was stabbed to death by Muslim convert Leo Pryce on 15th of July.
remember upper holloway 89/90 young wexford man going home from hurling training at st gabriels gaa club got arrested for carring an offenive weapon(hurley sticking out of sports bag)and taking to hornsey police station ,he never came out alive , thousands of irish have died in uk over years,thats why irish always stayed together as family sports and socialiseing.
Don’t remember that particular case but I do remember other similar ones, same area. Not coming home from training but usually coming home from the pub. Taken in to a station and not come out alive. Used to be reported in the Irish Post. At the time, when I learned of what was going on I was shocked at how frequently it was happening. Irish people had the highest rate of deaths in custody out of all the different ethnic groups/nationalities.
The Irish Government did nothing about it, to my knowledge. At least, they never made any public statements unlike today making some bs statements about The Rwanda policy blah blah bla.
We all knew it was happening at the time.
i could be wrong , his name was martin o donnell , but someone can check on that.
martin o connor
So sad and pointless.
A lovely old man going out and making music for people to enjoy.
Thomas worked hard and gave to others. He will be remembered as a kind soul.
Lee stole and killed. A scumbag best let to rot in prison then in hell.
People Before Profit should do a GoFundMe for Lee Byer., Hypocrites United Will Never Be Defeated
This is horrendous. Poor innocent Thomas who got to 87, to be savagely mown down. God rest his soul. And God rest JJ Donnelly. So sad.
lived near their in 90s early 2000 , working on railways at night ,very fearfull going about your buisness,.uncontrolled immagration does not work , knowing your neigbour and who lives in local community is what made us stand out as a small little nation.
Interesting that the prosecution dropped the murder charge in this case today. The Times of London have reported that the O’Halloran family are not happy about this. In the same article it’s also mentioned that the African import that went on a stabathon in June last year and killing two including Grace O’Malley Kumar, was convicted of the same reduced charge and sentenced to a hospital order. The victims’ families are not happy with the verdict in that case either.
In the case of Thomas O’Halloran’s, the killer plead guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. This guy is a career criminal who was involved in organising armed robberies and has had underlings working for him. Other newspaper reports have described him in the past as a ‘Fagin’ like character. So, he’s fully committed member of the criminal fraternity. Wonder did he do a deal to inform on others to get a reduced charge?
Correction to my previous comment: Thomas O’Halloran was murdered in August 2022 and not last year
From a previous court case in in 2013 where he was convicted of armed robbery of 1/4 million pounds armed robbery from Jewellers
Detective Chief Inspector Pam Mace, in charge of MPS Flying Squad at Barnes, said: “Lee Byer was a prominent and influential figure within West London crime circles. He controlled a violent gang of young men, directing them to commit high value commercial robberies and regarded himself as untouchable.”
Blacks attacking elderly white men is nothing new….
drugs and all colours is the problem.ronnie regan had the right view on this in late 70/80s
It’s not simply drugs. That guy in the article above is a career criminal. Organised crime. You don’t get Chinese people going around attacking and murdering Irish men.
This will be common in ireland in no time