Concepta Leonard's ex-partner said he 'had everything planned' day before stabbing, inquest told

A man who killed his ex-partner before taking his own life said he had "everything planned" while at a pub the previous day, an inquest has heard.

Concepta Leonard was 51 when she was stabbed at her home in Maguiresbridge in Co Fermanagh in May 2017.

Peadar Phair, 55, who carried out the attack was also found dead.

On Wednesday, the second day of the inquest into Concepta Leonard's death, the coroner heard evidence from an off-duty bartender who worked in a pub in Lisnaskea which Phair had visited the day before the killing.

Michael Smyth explained that he knew Phair "through working in the bar" and that he would usually see him in the establishment at weekends.

Mr Smyth said he usually "seemed quite a happy fella" who would have "introduced himself to everyone".

A statement which Mr Smyth gave to police shortly after the attack was read out at the inquest on Wednesday.

In the statement, Mr Smyth said he went to the bar on Sunday 14 May 2017 on his day off work in order to watch a football match.

Phair arrived at the bar later in the day, at around 4.30pm, to watch an Arsenal match alone. Mr Smyth's statement outlined that Phair didn't seem to be happy, adding that he had told him "she was taking" him to court. Phair added that he wouldn't be in court. Mr Smyth said Phair didn't specifically name Concepta Leonard but that he knew they had dated for around a year or so.

Mr Smyth's statement outlined that Phair told him that he "had everything planned", suggesting he may take his own life. When Mr Smyth tried to reassure Phair, he told him that his 'deceased' mother and father "hadn't been able to talk him out of it" so there was no reason in Mr Smyth trying to do so. Mr Smyth explained that Phair's parents were both buried at a nearby graveyard.

Mr Smyth's statement added that when Phair went to the toilet, Mr Smyth told others at the bar what he had said, but that it had been put down to him being "just drunk".

The statement further detailed how Phair left the bar but returned at around 8.30pm. Before leaving the bar for the second time, Phair said "right boys, that's me away" while giving thumbs up.

At Wednesday's inquest hearing, Michael Smyth said this was the "only time" he had seen Phair "properly drunk".

When asked why Phair approached him when he entered the bar, Mr Smyth told the inquest that he was "probably the only face he recognised sitting in the bar" on that day.

He recalled how Phair had between "three, to four, to five" vodka and Red Bulls before he left the pub the first time. During his second visit, Mr Smyth recalled Phair having another three or four.

"He seemed quite angry and agitated," Mr Smyth told the inquest. "I'd never seen him like that any other time he was in the bar." That changed when he left for the second time, with Mr Smyth recalling Phair "laughing and joking with a couple of boys before he left".

On the first day of the inquest, the coroner heard how Concepta Leonard had an alarm fitted in her house before Mother's Day in 2017 and had only used it on the day she was killed.

During Wednesday's sitting, transcripts of phone call recordings to police and an audio recording from the alarm, which were made on the day of the murder, were read out.

It was explained to the inquest that the alarm was a "silent alarm" which, when triggered, called through to the alarm company (Fold TeleCare) enabling an adviser to hear what was happening but they did not have the capacity to make direct contact back through a speaker.

A statement made in June 2017 by the Fold TeleCare adviser who had responded to the initial alarm trigger was read to the inquest. It outlined that there was a domestic violence note attached to Concepta Leonard's contract, with an instruction to call police.

That call was received by a civilian emergency call handler at Gough Police Station who passed the alert to the command control system.

Constable Michael McDonagh told the inquest that he called the household directly after seeing the silent alarm notification as it was "unusual to get a call like that" from Fold TeleCare.

He explained that he couldn't hear any noise in the background during the call but that the female who answered was "speaking in a low tone". "It was quite obvious something was not right," Constable McDonagh added.

The inquest continues.

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