A cocaine-fuelled man who beat his disabled father to death after apparently mistaking him for an intruder has been jailed for his “unthinkable” murder.
Peter McGarry binged on cocaine and alcohol before fatally attacking his 76-year-old dad Malcolm McGarry at his home in Northfield Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Police officers found Mr McGarry unconscious in the living room with severe head and facial injuries after being called to the address in the early hours of 1 December last year.
Attending officers and paramedics administered CPR but he was pronounced dead at 2.05am.
His son, 53-year-old Peter McGarry, was detained at the scene. When told by officers he was being arrested on suspicion of murdering his father, he replied: “My dad? Are you kidding?”
At a sentencing hearing today (2 August), Nottingham Crown Court heard McGarry was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol and that he told officers he believed he had attacked a drug-dealing intruder, not his father.
James Horne KC, mitigating, said his client expressed “disbelief” following the killing, adding he’d had a “loving and close relationship” with his father and that they’d been watching football together in the hours leading up to the “unthinkable” incident.
Mr Horne added: “He has a deep and profound regret over what happened. The sense of loss he feels in that regard is compounded by the fact he is responsible for it.”
A post-mortem examination found Mr McGarry – who was partially paralysed having suffered a stroke in 2013 – sustained a severe and traumatic brain injury along with multiple facial injuries, having been repeatedly kicked and punched by his son.
Malcolm McGarry was killed by his own son
Outlining the case, prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC said Mr McGarry’s fiancée, Ruth Todd, sensed something was wrong on the evening of 30 November 2023, having not heard from him all day.
Eventually, late that night, she spoke to Peter McGarry, her stepson, on the phone – and that he revealed he was with his father and that he’d been beaten up.
Ms Todd took a taxi to the premises along with her son and his friend, and the trio found Mr McGarry severely injured on the living room floor at approximately 12.45am.
Mr Aspden said: “The scene itself was truly grotesque and macabre. There was a large amount of blood and the defendant seemed to be under the influence of drink and / or drugs. He was incoherent and aggressive, and told officers the deceased was not his father. He seemed to be under the impression that the deceased was an intruder.
“It’d been a truly savage beating with fatal consequences.”
Police and ambulance crews arrived minutes after the 999 call but nothing could be done to save Mr McGarry’s life.
McGarry, of Alexandra Street, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to murder in April and received a life sentence this afternoon, with a minimum custodial term of 14 years and 123 days - reflecting the time he has already spent in custody.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Todd described McGarry as a “very good” partner who was “like a father” to her three children from a previous relationship.
The statement read:
“The effect that Malcolm’s death has had on my family and I is indescribable. My son and I walked into Malcolm’s bungalow that night and saw him on the floor with the injuries that Peter had inflicted upon him.
“We have both been having flashbacks of that image and I have been struggling to sleep. I don’t want to leave the house anymore and it has left me feeling very depressed.
“I just miss him as he meant so much to me.”
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC told McGarry he had carried out a “savage attack” on a man who “never showed you a scrap of unkindness”.
The judge added:
“It is almost impossible to believe that anyone could become so affected by alcohol and drugs as to cease to recognise the same person that they had been in a room with, forgetting who that person was in terms of his appearance and his personage, and embark on a lethal attack, which is what happened in this case.
“It was an avoidable death and you have deprived yourself and, more importantly, other people of a man of value and great esteem. On this night you exploded.
“Some people think cocaine is a social drug you can take, put down and not be affected by. If this case serves any purpose at all, it is to again point out to people – both those selling it and those stupid enough to take it and become addicted to it – that cocaine is an awful and evil drug.
“Without it, you would not be here.”
Following the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Clare Dean said:
“Malcolm McGarry was killed in a truly horrific manner, in his own home, by his own son.
“It was a brutal and senseless murder that left his fiancée and other family members completely devastated.
“I would like to offer my condolences to them following his untimely death and my thoughts remain with them.
“While today’s outcome can never ease their pain, I hope the conclusion of these court proceedings brings them some degree of comfort."
Mansfield 103.2 Afternoon News - 211124
