He got what he deserves

MUCH missed . . . Nellie Geraghty

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“JUSTICE has been done” claims Maureen Barrow, the sister of murdered pensioner Nellie Geraghty.

She spoke after drug-addict Mark Royle had been sent down for life for killing her beloved sister.

“It’s taken eight long months and it has taken its toll on all of us. But we are elated; it’s a fantastic result,” she said.

Mark Royle was found guilty of the murder and robbery last November of the 79-year-old widower by a unanimous jury on Thursday. Manchester Crown Court heard he was trying to get money to fuel his drug habit and snatched her handbag, not knowing it contained the ashes of her late husband, Frank. Mrs Geraghty died two days later..

Maureen said of Royle: “He’s got exactly what he deserves. He didn’t care who he hurt, when he hurt them or how he hurt them. He took Nellie’s life, so why should he have his life?

“I’ve been in a bubble since she died. I’ve done everything I can, but it still hasn’t hit me properly.

“It will one day and I’ll come down with such a bump. I’ve not even cried properly yet. I’m still in a state of shock. We haven’t accepted she’s gone and we’re all still very angry about what he did to our Nellie.”

Mrs Geraghty’s beloved husband Frank died 17 years ago and his death shattered her life.

“She was devastated. She met him when she was 16 so had been with him most of her life.

“She was completely in love with him and when he died she wouldn’t even leave the house. So I said if she couldn’t leave him he would have to go with her, which is why she carried his ashes in her bag.

“If she only had money in her bag that day she would have let it go. She clung on to it because of the ashes. He was just so central to her life. Because the ashes are gone we feel like we’ve lost Frank twice. He was a lovely man.

Mrs Geraghty’s death shocked the community of Shaw, who rallied to hunt for Frank’s ashes.

Maureen said: “We can’t thank the community enough. They did everything they could to find Frank’s ashes and lined the streets on the day of her funeral.

“Everybody hates what this man did to her, but Nellie hasn’t been forgotten and she probably never will be. We can breathe a sigh of relief now and start to get on with our lives, but it will be difficult to move on. But we know where she is, we know she’s with Frank now and we know that she’s happy again.”

Detectives who painstakingly trawled through hours of CCTV footage to track killer Mark Royle’s movements on the day he murdered Nellie Geraghty have produced a detailed timeline of his movements (see picture).

In a tragic coincidence, it has been revealed that Nellie Geraghty once lived in the house in which toddler Jamie Heaton died in the Shaw explosion.

Nellie, her three siblings and parents lived in the house in Buckley Street until she moved into a home with her husband Frank in 1953. She moved back in 1958 following her father’s death and lived there until 1997.

Her sister, Maureen went on to live at 9 Buckley Street — the neighbouring house believed to have been the root of the blast. She moved out in 1975.


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