Convicted killer may lack fitness to plead after Mountjoy Prison attack

Stephen Kearney (40), jailed for manslaughter in 2006, sustained brain injuries in a Mountjoy Prison attack and faces a cognitive assessment before new charges can proceed.

Cognitive assessment ordered for brain-injured prisoner facing new charges

Stephen Kearney (40), who was convicted of manslaughter in 2006, may not be fit to plead to new criminal charges following a prison yard attack that left him with brain injuries, the Irish Times reports.

Kearney, of no fixed abode but formerly of Coultry Drive, Ballymun, Dublin, was not present at a mention hearing before Judge Orla Crowe at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday. He was attacked in Mountjoy Prison last year and has since been transferred to a medical wing of Midlands Prison, where a cognitive assessment is to be conducted to determine his fitness to plead.

Lisa Dempsey, prosecuting, told the court there is currently no report before it indicating Kearney suffers from a mental disorder, and he carries no formal diagnosis. Defence counsel David Staunton said he had concerns about his client's fitness to plead and questioned when the court could expect to receive an assessment report.

Staunton told the court he was making no application for bail, as Kearney — who is homeless — "would be put out on the street." The judge agreed that releasing him on bail would render him homeless and scheduled a further mention of the case for the end of October, allowing sufficient time for reports to be completed. Kearney will appear on that date via video-link from Midlands Prison.

Kearney was 20 years old when he admitted the manslaughter of Francis Gallagher (18) at Coultry Road on 25 October 2004. He also pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill Garda Michael Ryan at Hughes' pub on Chancery Street, Dublin, on 16 September 2004. Judge Michael White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court imposed a one-year sentence for the threat-to-kill charge and a consecutive nine-year sentence for the unlawful killing, with the final two years suspended on the condition that Kearney entered into a probation bond.

Since that conviction, Kearney accumulated further charges including false imprisonment, robbery, burglary, and theft. In March 2022 he received a 2½-year sentence for a robbery at a Tesco on Talbot Street, Dublin 1, committed in March 2019. He had previously received a 7½-year sentence at the Circuit Court for four similar robberies also carried out in March 2019, and was due for release in November 2024.

A High Court personal injury action has been brought on Kearney's behalf by a family member against the governor of Mountjoy Prison, the Attorney General of Ireland, and the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

Source: Irish Times