Image copyright Family photo Image caption Gerald Corrigan died last May, three weeks after being shot outside his home with a crossbow bolt

A man has been jailed for at least 31 years for murdering a retired lecturer with a crossbow.

Terence Whall, 39, of Bryngwran, Anglesey, was found guilty of killing Gerald Corrigan, 74, in April 2019.

Whall was handed a life sentence at Mold Crown Court.

Mr Corrigan's partner Marie Bailey told the court she was "devastated" by his death and had been left with the "image of his lifeblood" spilling out after the shooting.

Whall was lying in wait for Mr Corrigan at his remote home near the South Stack headland on the island, when he ventured out of his home to fix a satellite dish - which had been tampered with.

He was shot with a crossbow using a razor sharp broadhead arrow bolt, sustaining two holes in his stomach and damage to other organs.

He died in hospital three weeks later after developing sepsis.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How the crossbow killer was caught

Whall, a sports therapist, maintained throughout the trial that he was having sex with a man in a field on the night Mr Corrigan was shot.

Thomas Barry Williams denied this - saying the pair had only ever been friends.

But Whall's precise movements on the night of the killing were tracked by data from "black box" technology in a Land Rover, which belonged to his partner and which he had borrowed.

The prosecution said without this, he would have got away with his lies.

'Living hell'

Image caption The home Gerald Corrigan's partner shared with him is now "tainted", she said

Marie Bailey said losing Gerald Corrigan had been a "deep, agonising loss".

In a victim impact statement read from behind screens at Mold Crown Court, she said he "didn't have a chance" after being shot by Whall.

"He was everything to me. I miss him so much. He was my love," she said.

"I am absolutely devastated to lose him."

The court heard Ms Bailey has multiple sclerosis and was upstairs at their home when Mr Corrigan was hit.

"I was not there. I could not help," she said.

"I will never forget Gerry clutching what was a terrible injury. The pain must have been excruciating. I could not do anything.

She said the impact of his murder had been a living hell, and said the memories "of our beautiful home that we shared is now tainted".

"Now he is gone I feel I have a lesser life, I have an ache and emptiness that will not stop," she added.

Mr Corrigan's son Neil told the court he was undergoing counselling in a bid to come to terms with what happened to his father.

"How could someone choose to use such a barbaric weapon on an old man? Did they really want to cause him a slow painful death?" he told the court.

"I hope one day I can remember the good times and stop being traumatised by bad memories."

Mr Corrigan's daughter Fiona added: "Hearing the news was just awful.

"Planning the funeral was the hardest thing I have ever done.

"The worst thing of all of this is that I will never get to hold my dad again."

Image copyright North Wales Police Image caption This Land Rover, belonging to Whall's partner, was found burned out on the outskirts of Bangor

Whall and another man, Gavin Jones, 36, of High Street, Bangor, were also found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice and Jones was found guilty of arson of a motor vehicle.

Whall was given a concurrent sentence of six years for the arson charges, while Jones was jailed for five years.

Darren Jones, 41, and Martin Roberts, 34, had already pleaded guilty to arson.

They were handed sentences of two years and 10 months, and two years and four months.

Jailing Whall for life, Mrs Justice Jefford said he had been found guilty of "the vicious murder of Gerald Corrigan".

"For your own reasons, you clearly had a plan to kill," the judge said.

"You have deprived Mr Corrigan's family of any explanation."

"Your arrogant belief that you could get away with murder was misplaced," she told him.

He had "carried on as if nothing had happened" after the murder and "thought you had got away with it".

There was a "very significant degree of planning," the judge said.

Referring to the broadhead crossbow bolts he used, she said: "I have no doubt that you well knew that they were designed for hunting animals. In other words, they were designed to kill."

She was satisfied he interfered with Mr Corrigan's satellite dish to "draw him outside".

Mr Corrigan's death was "slow and agonising," she said.

Whall showed no emotion throughout.

'Barbaric murder'

Image caption Det Ch Insp Brian Kearney led the murder investigation

Speaking afterwards, with Mr Corrigan's partner by his side, Det Ch Insp Brian Kearney welcomed the sentences.

"Gerald was an innocent victim of a truly barbaric murder," he said.

"This was a complex murder investigation supported by numerous experts and professionals and a very dedicated investigation team."

But the officer also indicated that this may not be the end of the investigation.

"I continue to keep an open mind as to why Gerald was targeted, but clearly as outlined by Peter Rouch QC, someone wanted Gerald Corrigan dead," said Det Ch Insp Kearney.

"This is clearly, in a wider context, that the victim Gerald was a source of potential grief to local criminality.

"If anyone has any information regarding this, please feel free to contact me in the strictest confidence."