A 33-year-old has apologised to his family for murdering his mother by stabbing her at least 14 times and attempting to murder his father in a “vicious and prolonged attack” that left him fighting for his life.Danny Heyneman, one of five siblings, wept today as members of his family detailed the trauma they have suffered since he murdered “loving and caring” Annie Heyneman, whose “most cherished role was being a mother”.The court heard the defendant has some features of depression and a history of alcohol and polysubstance abuse, but does not suffer from a severe mental disorder.In a statement written by Heyneman’s sister and three brothers, they spoke about how their mother had loved life and made everyone she knew feel special. She cared for others through her community work and her profession as a carer for adults with disabilities, they said. Their father, Henk Heyneman, said they loved all their children and allowed Danny to live under their roof as an adult without expecting anything in return.“We never expected him to be grateful,” he said. “But we never expected murder.”Annie Heyneman Keith Spencer, for Danny Heyneman, said his client deeply regrets his actions. He said he had penned a letter of apology that he wanted to read himself but was unable to do so having listened to his family’s words.Spencer read out the apology, in which his client said he has missed his family every day since the murder and is filled with sadness, grief and guilt. “I miss you all. I am sorry for my actions. I understand I had a loving and supportive family who did their best for me and tried to get me help. Sorry. Sorry,” he said.Danny Heyneman, with an address at Kilnavart, Ballyconnell in Co Cavan, previously pleaded guilty to murdering Annie Heyneman at the family home on January 11th, 2025. He also admitted attempting to murder Henk Heyneman at the same address on the same date. Justice Tony Hunt said he would consider imposing consecutive sentences having listened to evidence of the defendant’s “vicious and prolonged” attacks on both parents. Hunt will pass sentence on June 2nd. Det Insp Adrian Durcan told Gerardine Small, prosecuting, that Annie and Henk Heyneman met in the Netherlands in 1990, married and had two children, the eldest of whom was Danny. They returned to Ireland to live in Ballyconnell and had three more children. Danny returned to living at the family home in March 2020, having finished an accountancy course in Sligo. But his behaviour became “challenging” and a number of incidents over the following years resulted in him being admitted to psychiatric care. He stopped working and began drinking at home, leading to concerns about his alcohol use, the detective said.The family were also concerned that he had become fixated on certain matters, particularly the idea that electronic devices and mobile phones had been hacked. In February 2024 his family believes he became paranoid. He told them he did not want them to use his name near electronic devices and believed that switched off phones were switching themselves back on. He would wrap the devices in tinfoil.His mother came close to telling him to leave the family home, but she was afraid, Durcan said. The parents had taken to locking their bedroom door at night because they feared Danny might come in.On January 11th, 2025, Henk arrived at his neighbour’s front door, bleeding heavily from multiple stab wounds. .Heyneman told his neighbour his wife needed immediate medical attention and might be dead. “Don’t let anyone near the house without the guards. Danny has gone crazy,” he said. Heyneman later described to gardaí that he had gone to bed at about 9pm. His wife stayed up and he noticed that Danny “had drink on him”. While in bed, Heyneman heard a strange noise followed by screaming. He went to investigate and found his wife lying on the kitchen floor, not moving. “Honey, are you okay?” he called out but then his son ran at him with a knife and stabbed him two or three times.He said Danny was shouting and his eyes were “massive”. Henk ran back to his bedroom and locked the door. He waited for a time before opening the door and saw his wife, still not moving. As he moved through the house, he said Danny “came racing from the hall” and stabbed him again “loads of times”.Henk again ran to the bedroom and locked himself in. He decided his only hope was to go to his neighbour’s so he escaped through a sliding door leading from the bedroom to a patio.He couldn’t find his car keys so he walked across a field to his neighbour’s house to raise the alarm.While gardaí were at the Heyneman house, which by then was on fire, they became aware that Danny had called emergency services from a takeaway about 6.6km away. He told emergency services he had been “very badly hurt”, having suffered several stab wounds in a family argument.In his garda interviews following his arrest, Heyneman said earlier that day he had drunk a bottle of vodka and a bottle of beer. He said he was speaking to his mother when she told him something he “didn’t want to hear”. He said he couldn’t remember anything after that, except his father pushing him and seeing a large knife covered in blood in the kitchen sink.He accepted he had stabbed his mother and his father but said he couldn’t remember doing it. He said he had not intended to hurt anyone.