The heartbroken parents of a beaten-up young musician say their lives have ‘changed forever’

The tragic parents of a young musician who was beaten to death have told how their lives have been permanently changed by the crime of violence.

Gavin O’Connor, 22, died nine years ago in a head-on collision with his own car.

The young man was a guitarist with a local classic rock band.

His villainous killer, Connor McGland, was 19 years old at the time of the murder, and Gavin was sentenced to life in prison for an unprovoked attack.

The monster, from County Monacon in Ireland, found Gavin asleep in his car in the early hours of June 4, 2011. The two were attending a music festival in town that night.

He says he stole the vehicle because Gavin was sleeping unknowingly in the back seat.

Gavin told McClellan police that he was hit several times in the head with rocks after he woke up and that he drove the car when the victim got off the road.

Shockingly, he admitted that he did this to make the injuries look like they were in an accident.

McClelland pleaded not guilty at his trial, but he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

He has already been granted neutral place visits and will qualify for his second parole hearing next spring.

Gavin’s frustrated parents are urging him to enforce the 2019 parole law to prevent this.

Mum Helena told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “We feel we have been sentenced to life imprisonment and fear Connor McGland will be released.

“Our lives changed forever when Gavin was murdered, and its brutality will come with us to the grave.”

Dad, Jerry added: “What happened to Gavin was unbearable. It was done by someone who did not care about human life.

“He can now lie down in prison, be well fed, can’t be out at any time. That’s wrong. There are bad guys in the world, this scam is pure evil.”

And Helena insisted that McClelland “never go out” for what he had done.

He added: “He doesn’t even know Gavin. We still don’t know what happened to him nine years later.

“Gavin left here on Friday night – at first he said he was not going.

“When he went out I had a terrible feeling that he had not come back. I called him and said, ‘Cow do me a favor and take care of me,’ and said, ‘I will do it, ma’am.’

“His girlfriend beat me until the next morning.

“The doctor said Gavin’s brain should have three or four different compartments, but all he could see was porridge.

“He said the only reason his heart was still beating was because he was so young.

“After Gavin died, ‘When was the last time I told him I loved him?’

Unfortunately the couple also lost their second son Patrick in a road accident two years later.

However, Gavin Music thanks his dad Jerry, who leased his equipment to a band called The Reel Beats.