The mother of Keane Mulready-Woods, whose dismembered body parts were scattered across two counties by a criminal gang, has said the “cruelty and inhumanity” of his murder is something no parent should ever have to face.
Elizabeth Mulready said nothing could prepare a parent for losing her 17-year-old son.
Her statement was read out at a sentencing hearing for Stephen Carberry (48), who admits transporting and disposing of the teenager’s body parts while on bail for serious drug offences.
Ms Mulready said instead of being allowed dignity in death, her son’s body was “cut up, scattered, and treated as if he was nothing”.
The Special Criminal Court on Monday heard that Carberry, a father of six, collected two sports bags containing the teenager’s body parts from a house in Rathmullan Park in Drogheda, before dumping one of these at a location in Moatview in North Dublin.
Carberry, who has 77 previous convictions, was on bail for possessing drugs for sale or supply at the time. He is currently serving an eight-year sentence for this offence, the court heard.
In her statement, Ms Mulready said knowing parts of her son were left in different places around the country was a “constant and unbearable torment”.
Ms Mulready said not a day goes by that she is not “haunted” by images and thoughts of what was done to Keane.
“I relive it when I wake up, and it follows me when I try to sleep,” she said. “This is not grief that fades with time. It is trauma that lives inside me.”
Keane Mulready-Woods, from Drogheda. Photograph: Garda/PA Wire
“I speak today for my son because he no longer has a voice,” Ms Mulready said, asking the court to consider the “lifelong impact” this has had on her and her family when deciding on a sentence.
Ms Justice Karen O’Connor said the court could not imagine the depth of her pain but understood this is something which will live with her for every day of her life.
She said Ms Mulready referred to her son’s dignity being denied, but his mother demonstrated “great dignity today on behalf of your son”.
In his victim impact statement read to the court, Keane’s father, Barry Woods, questioned why “fully grown men with families of their own” would “take a 17-year-old boy” and dump his body parts as they did.
“We had to have his funeral with only half his body parts in his coffin. Horrible,” he said.
Mr Woods said he is still “haunted” by this “savage murder” and still has nightmares.
Keane Mulready-Woods was last seen alive in Drogheda on January 12th, 2020. The following day some of the teenager’s body parts were found in a sports bag in the Moatview area of Coolock in Dublin. Two days later, remains were found in a burning car in a laneway in the Drumcondra area.
His torso was discovered on March 11th, 2020, hidden in an overgrown ravine during a search of waste ground at Rathmullan Park.
On Monday Detective Sgt Enda O’Sullivan confirmedthe “chief suspect” for the murder was Robbie Lawlor, a “criminal of significant notoriety” who had been linked to several murders. Lawlor was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020.
He agreed Lawlor was known to have been heavily involved in a feud involving criminals in the Drogheda area among others.
The court heard the teenager’s remains were initially placed in a red van parked at the rear of the property, but this vehicle broke down and couldn’t be moved. At this point Carberry and another man were contacted and tasked with using a Volvo V40 to transport the remains.
CCTV showed a person gardaí believe to be Carberry parking next to a laneway leading to the rear of a house in Rathmullan Park. The person returns to the vehicle shortly before 9pm carrying two bags, which were then placed in the boot of the car.
The car makes its way to Moatview Gardens where the driver dumps one of the bags. DNA samples taken from the strap of the sports bag were found to be a match with a sample taken from Carberry.
Carberry exited the vehicle in the Artane area and it was later burned out at Trinity Terrace.
Over the course of 16 Garda interviews, Carberry claimed his DNA could have ended up on the sports bag after Lawlor bought it in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and handed it to him. However, gardaí established the Puma bag was not stocked by any retail outlets in the centre.
Det Sgt O’Sullivan confirmed to Carberry’s defence counsel, Michael Bowman SC, that there was no evidence Carberry had any “hand or part” in the teenager’s murder.
Mr Bowman said the murder of Carberry’s brother Richie in 2019 had had a profound effect on him and there were threats to the defendant’s own life.
Mr Bowman said Carberry pleaded guilty promptly and had taken responsibility for participating in “a grotesque act”. He said Carberry had a difficulty with cocaine for some years and developed severe depression.
Ms Justice O’Connor adjourned the case to March 9th for sentencing.
Carberry, of Sandymount Avenue, Dublin 4, pleaded guilty to committing an act between January 13th and 15th, 2020, intended to impede the apprehension or prosecution of a person he knew or believed to be guilty of Keane’s murder or some other arrestable offence.
In February 2023, the Special Criminal Court jailed Drogheda criminal Paul Crosby for 10 years for facilitating the “disgraceful and inhuman” murder of the teenager.
Crosby’s co-accused Gerard Cruise was considered by the court to be at a lower level and received a sentence of 7½ years with the final six months suspended for two years.
Cruise (51) with addresses in Drogheda and Lower Sherrard St, Dublin, and Crosby (29), last of Rathmullan Park, pleaded guilty to a charge of facilitating the murder.