Young mother Joleen Corr dies 16-months after brutal attack

Joleen Corr, a 27-year-old beauty therapist from west Belfast, sustained brain injuries and was left in a coma after the savage attack in Downpatrick in 2016.

Earlier this month, the support treatment plan which was keeping her alive was withdrawn following a court ruling, believed to be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.

The mother-of-one died passed away peacefully in the arms of her mother and surrounded by loved ones at 1.50am on Thursday, according to her family.

She had received specialist care in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for six months before being transferred to Musgrave Park Hospital in the city. Joleen then resided at the Northern Ireland Hospice.

A ruling was made in court earlier this month to withdraw her life support due to the pain she was suffering, and medical staff were directed to withdraw all food and fluids.

Her mother Carol Corr was at her daughter’s bedside every day since she was taken to hospital following the assault, barely recognisable due to her injuries.

She previously told the BBC: “I feel like when she was beaten up, we lost her, but now we’ve lost her all over again and this time it’s forever. My heart has been ripped out and shattered into a million pieces.

“It’s not fair on her to make her have to cope with this pain any longer. The injuries she sustained when she was beaten up have finally got too much for her.”

Carol, who has four other children – Cherie, 23, Jim, 20, Chloe, 12, and Christine, nine – said: “Joleen was the happiest, bubbliest, most loving and beautiful girl in the world. “She was a great mum too. Everything she did was for her son, and I’m going to miss her so much.”

In relation to the attack which left Joleen in a vegetative state, one man has been charged and remains in custody.

In a court appearance in September 2017, Michael O’Connor – originally from Westrock Grove in west Belfast but whose address was given to court as Maghaberry prison – pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. He is understood to be an ex-partner of the victim.