{"id":658088,"date":"2026-08-26T21:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/658088\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T21:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:06:12","slug":"convicted-killer-left-with-brain-injuries-after-prison-attack-may-not-be-fit-to-plead-to-new-charges-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/658088\/","title":{"rendered":"Convicted killer left with brain injuries after prison attack may not be fit to plead to new charges \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">A convicted killer who was left with a brain injury after he was attacked in a prison yard may not be fit to plead to new charges. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Stephen Kearney (40) of no fixed abode but previously of Coultry Drive, Ballymun, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/dublin\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/dublin\/\">Dublin<\/a>, was jailed for eight years in 2006 after he was given a 10-year sentence with the final two years suspended for manslaughter and threatening to kill a garda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Kearney was not present at the mention hearing before Judge Orla Crowe in Dublin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/dublin-circuit-criminal-court\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/dublin-circuit-criminal-court\/\">Circuit Criminal Court<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He was hospitalised after he was attacked in Mountjoy Prison last year and has since been moved to a medical wing of Midlands Prison where a cognitive assessment is to be carried out  to establish his fitness to plead, the court was told.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">On Wednesday Lisa Dempsey, prosecuting, told the court there was no report before the court to say Kearney is suffering from a mental disorder and he has no diagnosis. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">David Staunton, defending, said he had concerns in relation to his client\u2019s fitness to plead. \u201cThe difficulty is when will the court receive that report,\u201d Staunton said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Staunton said he was making no application for bail as his client who is homeless \u201cwould be put out on the street\u201d. Counsel said he was not applying for bail \u201cas it\u2019s not in his interest\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The judge agreed if Kearney were to be admitted to bail \u201che would become homeless\u201d. She said she would mention the case at the end of October to give sufficient time for reports to be done. Kearney will appear on that date via video-link from Midlands Prison. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Kearney, who was 20 at the time, admitted the manslaughter of Francis Gallagher (18) at Coultry Road on October 25th, 2004. He also pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill Garda Michael Ryan, in Hughes\u2019 pub, Chancery Street, Dublin, on September 16th, 2004.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Judge Michael White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court imposed a one-year sentence for the threat to kill charge and for the unlawful killing of Francis Gallagher he gave Kearney a nine-year consecutive sentence, with the final two years suspended on condition that he entered into a probation bond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Kearney was since charged with false imprisonment  and robbery, burglary and theft. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He was given a 2\u00bd year jail term in March 2022 for a robbery in Tesco on Talbot Street, Dublin 1, in March 2019. He committed four similar robberies in March 2019 and previously received a 7\u00bd  term of imprisonment at the Circuit Court. He was due for release in November 2024. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">A High Court personal injury action has been taken by a member of Kearney\u2019s family on his behalf, against the governor of Mountjoy Prison, the Attorney General of Ireland and the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A convicted killer who was left with a brain injury after he was attacked in a prison yard&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658089,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,24443,52,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,110601,5,7,8],"class_list":["post-658088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-circuit-court","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-mountjoy-prison","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117163851182884049","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}