A CONVICTED rapist and murderer allegedly “lavished” his long-lost daughter and her family with gifts until things turned sour when they found out about his shocking past, Fermanagh Magistrates Court has heard.

Former soldier Richard Charles O’Hara contacted his daughter, Louise Passingham, via social media in May 2012, several years after she had left a message on a military veterans website seeking her father, whom she had never met. The following month, he travelled to the south of England to meet Mrs Passingham and her family face-to-face for the first time.

The family allege that he then showered them with money and a series of expensive gifts, including a car, as the relationship developed, and eventually suggested that they come to live in Northern Ireland.

In June 2013, Mrs Passingham and her family moved to Fermanagh – first to a house in Boho and several months later to a bungalow in Enniskillen. She claims that it was during her time living in Enniskillen that she uncovered the details of her father’s criminal past, after typing his name into an internet search engine.

Mrs Passingham alleged that her “world fell apart” as she read newspaper articles outlining O’Hara’s conviction for the rape and murder of 19-year-old Deborah Robinson in Dublin in 1980. He was jailed for the horrific crime, but was released on life licence after 27 years inside.

Following this discovery, she claimed that her father subjected her family to a lengthy campaign of harassment, which came to a head in March of this year – prompting her to go to the police.

O’Hara (62), who has an address at Stiles Estate, Antrim, denies harassing his daughter, her husband and his grandson on dates between August 1, 2014 and March 28, this year.

He also denies stealing a Hyundai Amica car, belonging to Mrs Passingham’s husband Michael, on August 1, 2014, as well as threatening to kill his grandson on a date unknown in December 2014.

Defence counsel, Ben Thompson, is arguing that Mrs Passingham and her family had been experiencing considerable financial difficulties and were trying to “milk” the defendant for all he was worth.

He has further claimed that his client’s daughter only went to the police because the defendant sent her a letter threatening legal action if the family did not repay £15,000 he said they owed him.

The barrister alleged that Mrs Passingham saw going to the police as a “good way” of making O’Hara go away.

The defendant, walking with the aid of a pair of crutches, was led into the dock at Fermanagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon for the contested hearing. He is currently serving time in Maghaberry prison, after having his life-licence recalled.

Giving her evidence via videolink, Mrs Passingham told the court that she had a lot of contact with her father to begin with. She said there were lots of phone calls, emails and bouquets of flowers.

Claiming that the black Hyundai Amica had arrived “completely out of the blue”, Mrs Passingham said that her father had described it as “a wee gift”. She said that she told him that she didn’t want the car, but that the gifts and messages “snowballed” from there.

The court heard that the defendant added his details to his daughter’s birth certificate. However, despite their developing relationship, Mrs Passingham claimed that her family were uncomfortable with the deluge of gifts from the defendant.

“This isn’t how we live. We don’t do things like that. We don’t spend money willy-nilly,” she said.

The Englishwoman said that her father first suggested the family move to Northern Ireland in July 2012, but it didn’t happen until almost a year later. Mrs Passingham said that the defendant found a house in Boho for the family to stay in and after six months, found them another property in Enniskillen.

However, the mother-of-three said that cracks began to appear in the relationship in August last year. She said that her father had taken the Hyundai Amica from their driveway so it could be viewed by a potential buyer.

Claiming that from this point “everything just went wrong”, Mrs Passingham said that she had intended giving the car to her eldest son, but the defendant refused to give it back.

She told the court that the last time she saw her father on a “civil basis” was in the second week of August last year. She alleged that she was aware that there had been an “altercation” between her father and her son.

In the following months, she claimed that the defendant would regularly appear outside the house – either sitting in his car or with his German Shepherd dog. She told the court that the dog would foul in the garden and then her father would put it in a bag and leave it on the wall.

The witness claimed that this went on for around seven months. On one occasion, at the end of October last year, Mrs Passingham claimed that she heard the defendant making threats against her son.

Recounting how she became aware of her father’s previous conviction, the witness said she found out “by accident” after Googling his name. Describing the shock and horror of finding out, she added: “I had brought my family here to have this man in my life.” During cross-examination of the witness, defence barrister, Mr Thompson, suggested that all her allegations were “utter nonsense” and that the case was “all about money”. He alleged that Mrs Passingham had been aware of her father’s past much earlier than she claimed, prompting her to reply: “Why would I put my family in that situation?” Questioning her over how much debt the family were in when they had left England, Mrs Passingham said: “Money had nothing to do with this. It’s not relevant.” After district judge, Nigel Broderick, said it was for him to decide what was relevant or not relevant, she said that she didn’t know the exact figure.

The barrister also told the court that the witness’s account that the various items given to her family by the defendant were “gifts”, and never loans, was “utterly ridiculous”. But Mrs Passingham replied that her father liked to be “flash”, and in the past had given cars away to relatives of people in the hospital where his wife had worked.

Asked whether the car had been a gift or not, she said she had a letter from her father confirming that it was a gift that was given to the police.

Asked why she had decided to go to the police on March 28 this year, she told the court that O’Hara had “went outside” the family. She claimed that he had went to her landlady and wanted the keys to the property and had threatened to send the bailiffs round as they owed him £15,000.

Questioning why she hadn’t gone to the police before then, Mrs Passingham told the barrister that she had been terrified that people would find out they were related to him.

Meanwhile, Mrs Passingham’s daughter also gave evidence via videolink. She told the court that her grandfather had paid £700 for her to go on a school ski trip and said she thought that was “excessive”. She added that, soon after, “everything started to unravel”.

When Mr Thompson came to cross-examine the teenager, he repeatedly asked her whether her mother had told her what to say, but she strongly denied this.

The defence barrister alleged that her family were in a considerable amount of debt and her mother had asked her to lie to the police as it was a “good way of making Mr O’Hara go away”. He added that there were “so many similarities” between what mother and daughter had said.

The case continues.