Mother of Keane Mulready-Woods tells court of ‘unimaginable cruelty’ after son’s murder

Fiona Magennis

The mother of Keane Mulready-Woods, whose dismembered body parts were scattered across two counties by a criminal gang, has told a court that the “cruelty and inhumanity” of his murder is something no parent should ever have to face.

Elizabeth Mulready said nothing could ever prepare a parent for losing a child, but the way her 17-year-old son had been taken and what was done to him after his death had left a level of trauma that she will carry for the rest of her life.

Her statement was read out by prosecuting counsel 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 asked the three-judge court to consider the “lifelong impact” the offence has had on her and her family when deciding on a sentence.

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”.

She added: “As if he was not someone’s son. As if he did not matter. The cruelty and inhumanity of disposing of my child’s body in pieces is something no parent should ever have to face.”

The Special Criminal Court heard on Monday, 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 worth in excess €13,000 for the purpose of sale or supply at the time. He is currently serving an eight-year sentence in relation to this offence, the court heard.

In her statement, Ms Mulready said knowing that 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 isn’t “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.”

She said her family has been “destroyed” by what happened and Keane’s siblings lost their brother “in the most brutal way imaginable”.

What hurts even more was that after her son was killed, “choices were made”, to further “disrespect him and to further harm us”, Ms Mulready added.

She said Keane deserved “dignity” and “respect” and deserved to be treated like “a human being, not as something to be discarded”.

“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 and the “unimaginable cruelty” of what was done when deciding on a sentence.

Addressing Ms Mulready after the statement was delivered, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor, presiding at the Special Criminal Court today, said the panel could not imagine the depth of her pain but understood that this is something which will live with her for every day of her life.

She said Ms Mulready had referred to her son’s dignity being denied, however the judge said Keane’s mother had demonstrated “great dignity today on behalf of your son and the way in which you have given him a voice”.

Father's impact statement

In his victim impact statement, which was also read to the court today, 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 was still “haunted” by this “savage murder” and still has nightmares about what happened. He said his sone never got to see his 18th or 21st birthday.

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.

Evidence

At the Special Criminal Court on Monday, Detective Sergeant Enda O’Sullivan confirmed to prosecuting counsel, Tony McGillicuddy SC, that the “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 that at the time of the killing, Lawlor was known to be heavily involved in a feud involving criminals in the Drogheda area among others.

Stephen Carberry’s brother, Richie – who was murdered in 2019 - had been married to Robbie Lawlor’s sister, the court heard.

The Det Sgt said a black puma bag was discovered on a roadway at Moatview Gardens in Dublin at 10pm on January 13th. Dismembered limbs, including arms and legs, were found in the bag and were subsequently confirmed as those of Keane Mulready-Woods.

The following day, a search warrant was executed at the home of Gerard ‘Ged’ McKenna in Rathmullan Park.

Det Sgt O’Sullivan confirmed McKenna was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison for the offence of assisting an offender for his role in attempting to clean up the crime scene following the murder.

On January 15th, Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene of a navy Volvo V40 on fire at Trinity Terrace in Dublin. During a search of the vehicle, human remains consisting of a head and feet were found in the car and were later identified as those of the missing teenager.

Det Sgt O’Sullivan said this car was the same vehicle used to leave the sports bag at the Moatview location two days earlier.

On March 11th, a bag was found containing skeletal remains which were also confirmed as those of Keane Mulready-Woods.

CCTV footage showed Keane meeting Paul Crosby at a shop shortly after 6pm before the pair were seen walking in the direction of the house in Rathmullan Park.

The court heard that the teenagers 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 youngsters remains. The car had been stolen the previous November and had been fitted with false number plates.

Phone records showed Carberry was in frequent contact with Robbie Lawlor between January 12th and 16th.

CCTV showed a person gardaí believe to be Carberry parking adjacent to a laneway leading to the rear of the house in Rathmullen 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 subsequently burned out at Trinity Terrace.

Over the course of 16 garda interviews, Carberry claimed that his DNA could have ended up on the sports bag after Lawlor bought the bag in Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and handed it to him. However, gardaí subsequently established that the puma bag was not stocked by any retail outlets in the centre.

The court heard that Carberry grew up in Laytown in Co Meath but has an address in Dublin. He has 77 previous convictions, including eight for dangerous driving, three for possession of knives, one for providing false information, three for possession of drugs for sale or supply and one S15A possession of drugs for sale or supply with a value of over €13,000.

He received a sentence of nine years with one suspended for the Section 15A offence in July, 2023.

Det Sgt O’Sullivan confirmed Carberry was on bail for that offence at the time of Keane Mulready-Wood’s murder.

He 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 had had a profound effect on his client and that there were also threats to the defendant's own life.

Mr Bowman said Carberry had pleaded guilty in a timely manner and had taken responsibility for taking part in “a grotesque act”.

He said Carberry had had a difficulty with cocaine for a number of years and had developed severe depression following his brother’s murder.

Counsel asked the court to take into account the totality principle when considering what sentence to impose.

Ms Justice O’Connor adjourned the case to Monday, March 9th, for sentencing.

Carberry of Sandymount Avenue, Dublin 4 pleaded guilty to charge that on a date between January 13th, 2020, and January 15th, 2020, both dates inclusive, within the State, knowing or believing another person to be guilty of the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods or some other arrestable offence, did without reasonable excuse, an act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of that other person.

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 seven-and-a-half years with the final six months suspended for two years.

Cruise (51) with addresses in Drogheda and Lower Sherrard St, Dublin 1, had pleaded guilty to a charge that, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods at Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, between the dates of January 11th and 13th, 2020, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006.

Crosby (29), last of Rathmullan Park, pleaded guilty to the same charge.

As part of a pilot project BreakingNews.ie has used AI to suggest headline options for this article. The final headline was chosen and edited by BreakingNews.ie journalists. Find out more