‘Kieran’s death was too much for Cathy O’Connor’

Published: 29 July, 2010
by JOSIE HINTON

FRIENDS of a mother who killed herself nearly 10 years after her son was shot dead by police said she never came to terms with his death. 

They told how Cathy O’Connor, 49, who died after jumping under a train at Archway Tube station in January, even stopped celebrating Christmas after the death of her son.

But Ms O’Connor, whose life was beset by tragedies, always had “time for other people”, according to the friends who knew her best.

Her son Kieran O’Donnell was killed by a police sniper after an 11-hour stand-off in October 2000.

The 19-year-old, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, barricaded himself – along with his girlfriend and his mother – inside a flat in Cathcart Hill, Tufnell Park, shortly after being released from hospital.

Speaking this week, close friends said Cathy was left “heart-broken” by losing Kieran, a former Brookfield School pupil – but never stopped supporting the people she loved.

Vivien Baker, of Churchill Road, Dartmouth Park, who knew Ms O’Connor for 23 years, said: “She went through some really tough times but she was always a good friend. 

“It was never just one-way. She had her problems but she would always listen to other people.

“She didn’t get the help she needed and it was no surprise that she was mistrustful of the professionals. She tried endlessly to get more help with Kieran but she came up against a brick wall. 

“She knew he was too ill to live alone with her but they sent him home to her anyway. She should never have been left in that situation.”

Childhood friend Karen Reid said: “When we met we were rebellious teenagers, but we stayed friends all the way through our lives. 

“She was truly kind-hearted and it didn’t matter what was going on in her life, she was there for you. 

“She did her best and was a fantastic mum, but Kieran’s death was too much for her. After that she even stopped celebrating Christmas.” 

Ms O’Connor died at the Royal Free Hospital on January 11. An inquest revealed that just hours before she stepped on to the tracks, she had told mental health professionals that she “might as well jump off a bridge” because she was unable to cope with Kieran’s death. 

Psychologists said that they thought that sectioning her would be too severe because she was “happy to accept help”.

Close friends said she had faced a difficult start in life. After being taken into care aged three, she was split up from two of her three brothers, who both later died, one  after being hit by a cab outside Great Portland Street station. Her third brother vanished from Camden without trace, she told friends.

Ms O’Connor lived in a children’s home in Hampshire before moving to Newhaven House, a young people’s hostel in Muswell Hill, run by the Rainer Foundation. 

There she was looked after by Beryl Pool, with whom she stayed in touch until Ms Pool died in 2005.

Ms O’Connor had been married briefly before meeting her son’s father – who lived in Liverpool at the time of the siege in which his son died. 

Ms O’Connor was laid to rest earlier this year alongside Kieran at St Pancras Cemetery.