Man must serve term for trying to murder father before life sentence for murdering mother

Fiona Magennis

A Cavan man must serve a six-year prison sentence for trying to murder his father before beginning a life sentence for murdering his mother in attacks of “extreme violence” carried out within the family home, a judge has ruled.

Justice Tony Hunt also apologised to the family of victims Henk and Annie Heyneman for delays in the case, noting it was, like many others, “bedevilled” by a lack of resources and bureaucratic delays in accessing the necessary psychiatric services.

Sentencing Danny Heyneman (33) on Tuesday, Justice Hunt said the defendant's parents had extended “a place of safety” to their son and had cared for him.

However, he said the case was a good example of the old adage that “no good deed goes unpunished”.

Justice Hunt had previously said he would consider imposing consecutive sentences, having listened to evidence of the defendant's "vicious and prolonged" attacks on both parents.

Passing sentence on Tuesday, the judge said that having considered the evidence, it would be "improper" not to recognise the “damage and harm” that Henk Heyneman has to live with if the offences were dealt with by way of concurrent sentences.

He said such an approach was “not something that would sit comfortably with me”.

Justice Hunt said that Danny Heyneman's attempted murder of his father after he had killed his mother was a “separate and extremely serious offence”.

He said there was a “sustained element” to the offending, noting that after killing his mother, Danny Heyeman then attacked his father in what he characterised as “sequential and escalating violence”.

Henk Heyneman was forced to escape the attack by his son by running barefoot across a field to raise the alarm with a neighbour, Justice Hunt said.

He said Henk Heyneman now has to live with permanent physical injuries, psychological trauma and the grief of losing his wife.

To lose a spouse in any circumstance is difficult, the judge said, but to do so at the hands of your child was “an unimaginable situation”.

This was a “shocking, shocking tragedy for all concerned but most of all for Henk Heyneman,” Justice Hunt added.

He said the most aggravating factor in the case was the breach of trust involved, as Henk and Annie Heyneman had been attacked in their own home which “should have been a place of safety for them”.

“They extended a place of safety to Danny with catastrophic results,” said the judge, acknowledging the “extreme violence” used in the attack and the “multiplicity of injuries” sustained by both victims.

Justice Hunt said on the night in question, it appeared “some sort of argument or dispute” took place between the defendant and his mother, after which Danny Heyneman armed himself with a kitchen knife and inflicted multiple stab wounds on his mother causing her death, before turning on his father leaving him with life threatening injuries.

Justice Hunt noted that after the attack, a fire was set in the home and devices were burned which "perhaps gave a window" into the functioning of the defendant's mind at the time.

The court previously heard that the family were concerned Danny had become fixated on the idea that electronic devices and mobile phones had been hacked and that he had become paranoid.

He told them he did not want them to use his name near electronic devices and believed that switched off phones were switching themselves back on. He would wrap the devices in tinfoil.

Justice Hunt said that while there was a “chaotic” aspect to the defendant’s behaviour, he was satisfied that the setting of the fire also showed a “knowing aspect to his conduct”.

There was no reason why Danny Heyneman had to continue attacking his father after he had killed his mother, the judge said, adding that for many people it would have been an opportunity to step back rather than “press on”.

Justice Hunt also said he was also sceptical of the suggestion that the defendant had no memory of what happened, in spite of his intoxication.

He imposed a six-year sentence for the attempted murder of Henk Heyneman, to be served before the mandatory life sentence for the murder of Annie Heyneman.

The judge said that while the six-year sentence was “a token”, it was a "substantial recognition" of the wrong that had been done.

Danny Heyneman (33), with an address at Kilnavart, Ballyconnell in Co Cavan, previously pleaded guilty to murdering Annie Heyneman at the family home on January 11th, 2025.

He also admitted attempting to murder Henk Heyneman at the same address on the same date.

Previous sentencing hearing

A previous sentencing hearing was told that Danny had moved home to live with his parents in 2020.

His behaviour became “challenging” and a number of incidents led to him being admitted to psychiatric care. He stopped working and there were concerns about his alcohol use.

The court heard the defendant has some features of depression and a history of alcohol and polysubstance abuse, but does not suffer from a severe mental disorder.

In his victim impact statement, Henk Heyneman said the couple loved all their children and allowed Danny to live under their roof as an adult without expecting anything in return. "We never expected him to be grateful," he said.

"But we never expected murder."

On January 11th, 2025, Henk arrived at his neighbour's front door, bleeding heavily from multiple stab wounds. The neighbour noticed that his right ear was “hanging off” and that he had stab wounds to the chest and stomach, while a lump missing from his left arm.

Heyneman told his neighbour that his wife needed immediate medical attention and might be dead. "Don't let anyone near the house without the guards. Danny has gone crazy," he said.

He later told gardaí that he went to bed at around 9pm but heard a strange noise followed by screaming and found his wife lying on the kitchen floor not moving. When he went to check on her, his son ran at him with a knife and stabbed him.

Heyneman locked himself in the bedroom but emerged a short time later and was again attacked by his son. He managed to escape through a sliding door and walked barefoot across a field to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm.

When interviewed, Danny Heyneman told gardaí that on the day in question, he had drunk a bottle of vodka and a bottle of beer.

He said during a conversation with his mother, she told him something he “didn’t want to hear”. He said he couldn't remember anything after that, except his father pushing him and seeing a large knife covered in blood in the kitchen sink.

He accepted that he had stabbed his mother and his father but said he couldn't remember doing it. He said he had not intended to hurt anyone.

A postmortem revealed Annie Heyneman had been stabbed at least 14 times. The most significant injury was to the left jugular and subclavian veins which led to blood loss, hypovolemic shock and death. She also had defensive type injuries to her arms.

Henk Heyneman suffered 26 sharp force wounds to his scalp, face, right ear, neck, chest, abdomen and both arms. A fracture around his left eye requires ongoing surgery.

Justice Hunt noted the guilty pleas were entered after some delay. He said that while he understood the family’s frustration at this, it was important in a case involving previous mental health difficulties to explore whether the offending could be explained by psychiatric issues or whether it remained in “the criminal sphere”.

He said it was unfortunate that this case, like many others, was “bedevilled” by a lack of resources and bureaucratic delays in accessing the necessary services.

The judge apologised for these delays and said he hoped the family could understand that these matters had to be explored. He said he was left with matters which can’t be explained by medical or psychological issues and the case remained firmly in the criminal realm.

He acknowledged Danny Heyneman’s history of depression, self-harm and what he described as “a rather extreme form of paranoid ideation” before the offence - with the defendant believing that devices were capable of listening in or subjecting him to some sort of surveillance.

The judge said those factors had been rejected as an explanation for the violence meted out by the defendant to his parents, but remained relevant to sentencing.

Justice Hunt said he accepted the defendant’s remorse as genuine but said it was “a very small drop in a very large ocean of damage and destruction” and would be of scant comfort to those left to deal with the consequences of his behaviour.

He said Danny Heyneman’s actions could be explained by emotional distress, intoxication and impaired impulse control rather than psychiatric difficulties. He said that while these factors were relevant, they did not excuse or diminish culpability.

Justice Hunt said the moving victim impact statements gave a clear idea of the “kind, generous and caring person” Annie Heyneman was.

However, he said the impact evidence was also “very bleak” in describing the predicament that the family, extended family and friends have been left in as a result of Danny Heyneman’s conduct.

He wished the family well for the future, noting that “nothing will ever be the same again”.

“This is not the sort of thing that can ever be recovered from in any realistic sense,” he said, noting that Henk Heyneman now lives with permanent physical injuries and psychological trauma and that the defendant’s siblings had outlined the “destruction of their family”.