Eric Locke sentenced to life for murder of Sonia Blount

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Eric Locke was sentenced to life for murder at the Central Criminal Court on 26 May 2017. He killed Sonia Blount at the Plaza Hotel in Tallaght on 16 February 2014, after using a fake Facebook profile to lure her there.

A jury had rejected his argument that a mental disorder diminished his responsibility and convicted him of murder on 22 May 2017. The mandatory life sentence followed victim-impact statements from Ms Blount’s sisters about the effect of her death on her son.

The judge described the impact on the child as an “unspeakable” tragedy.