By Niamh O’Donoghue
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.
Stephen Kearney (40) of no fixed abode but previously of Coultry Drive, Ballymun, Dublin, 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.
Kearney was not present at the mention hearing before Judge Orla Crowe in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday.
Kearney 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 on him in order to establish his fitness to plead, the court was told.
On Wednesday, Lisa Dempsey BL 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.
David Staunton BL defending said he had concerns in relation to his client’s fitness to plead. “The difficulty is when will the court receive that report,” Mr Staunton said.
Mr Staunton said he was making no application for bail as his client, who is homeless, “would be put out on the street”. Counsel said he was not applying for bail “as its not in his interest.”
Judge Crowe agreed if Kearney were to be admitted to bail “he would become homeless”. 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.
Kearney, who was 20 at that time, admitted the manslaughter of Francis Gallagher (18) at Coultry Road on October 25, 2004. He also pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill Garda Michael Ryan, in Hughes’ pub, Chancery Street, Dublin, on September 16, 2004.
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.
Kearney was subsequently charged with false imprisonment under Section 15 of the Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997, and robbery, burglary and theft under the Criminal Justice Theft and Fraud Offences Act, 2001.
He was given a two-and-a-half-year jail term in March 2022 for a robbery in Tesco on Talbot Street, Dublin 1, in March 2019. He committed four robberies of similar modus operandi in March 2019 and previously received a seven-and-a-half-year term of imprisonment imposed on him by the Circuit Court. He was due for release in November 2024.
A High Court personal injury action has been taken by a member of Kearney’s family on his behalf, against the Governor of Mountjoy Prison, the Attorney General of Ireland and the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.