Two men jailed for facilitating teenager's murder

Two men who admitted facilitating the murder of a 17-year-old have been jailed at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.

Keane Mulready-Woods from Drogheda, County Louth, was murdered in January 2020 and his body was dismembered.

Paul Crosby, aged 27, from Rathmullan Park in Drogheda, and 49-year-old Gerard Cruise were sentenced on Friday.

Crosby was jailed for 10 years and Cruise was jailed for seven years.

Keane Mulready-Woods' disappearance was reported by his mother on 13 January 2020.

He was on bail and subject to a curfew when he went missing.

Gardaí (Irish police) believe the murder was related to the ongoing feud between two Drogheda criminal gangs, which has now cost four lives.

The teenager was lured to a house in Drogheda where he was murdered and his body was then dismembered with hand and power tools.

His arms and legs were discovered in a sports bag in Coolock in north Dublin the following day.

Two days later, his head and feet were discovered in the boot of a stolen car found ablaze in Dublin's north inner city.

Further remains, including his torso, were found at a location in Rathmullen Park.

His cause of death is unknown.

The court heard the chief suspect for the murder was Robbie Lawlor, a senior criminal involved in the Drogheda gang feud, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported.

He was linked to several other murders and was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020.

Mr Justice Hunt described the feud as "a scourge of the locality and a matter of nationwide concern".

Mr Justice Hunt said it was unnatural for any parent to lose a child prematurely, particularly through murder.

He said the remains of Mulready-Woods were treated in a disgraceful, inhuman way which compounded his family's grief.

In a victim impact statement, Keane's mother, Elizabeth Woods, described his killing as "one of the most brutal, traumatic murders in the history of Ireland".

The court heard Crosby had met Keane Mulready-Woods on the day he went missing, paid for his taxi fare and took him to a car where Cruise drove them to the rear of a property in Rathmullan Park, where the child was then murdered.

Listing evidence, Detective Inspector Aidan McCabe said the two men had bought a van in which Mulready-Woods' bone fragments were later found.

Cruise had provided bags later found at the murder scene, one of which contained a drill. He had also bought false registration plates for a car later used to move the child's remains to Dublin.

Both men apologised for what happened with Cruise insisting he did not know Mulready-Woods was to be murdered.

There was no evidence either men were present when the murder took place, but Crosby was in contact with Lawlor by phone.

Both men's phones were also found at the murder scene.

Mr Justice Hunt said the assistance they gave was significant, relating to a crime before, during and after it happened.

The court was satisfied Crosby was the more senior of the two as he received directions from Lawlor and passed them on to others.

It also found Cruise's previous convictions to be less serious.

Crosby was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years with the last six months suspended, while Cruise was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years with the last six months suspended.

Upon sentencing, Mr Justice Hunt added that nothing the court said could address the plight of the Mulready-Woods family.