Second man pleads guilty to assisting offender by helping dispose of body parts of murdered teenager
Alison O'Riordan
A second man has pleaded guilty to assisting an offender by helping in the movement and disposal of the body parts of murdered teenager Keane Mulready Woods, whose dismembered remains were discovered in Dublin almost six years ago.
Stephen Carberry (47), of Sandymount Avenue, Dublin 4 was arraigned before the non-jury Special Criminal Court on Monday, where he replied “guilty” to a 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.
John Byrne SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, had told the three-judge court that Carberry could be arraigned on count two - which was the offence of assisting an offender - and that the prosecution would be entering a nolle prosequi (a decision not to proceed) on the two remaining counts on the indictment.
Mr Byrne said while the act was not particularised in count two on the indictment, it was that Carberry had participated in or contributed to the transportation and disposal of the teenager's body parts.
Presiding judge Ms Justice Karen O’Connor directed a victim impact statement and adjourned the matter until January 19t, next. Carberry was remanded in custody until that date.
Mr Byrne said Carberry's trial date, which was fixed for January 12th next at the Special Criminal Court, could now be vacated.
Cathal McGreal BL, defending, asked the court to direct a urine analysis, a letter from the prison medic and an educational report on behalf of his client, which was acceded to.
Carberry faced two other charges in relation to the death of the 17-year-old, who was murdered in a house in Drogheda, Co Louth, in January 2020.
The DPP will enter a nolle prosequi in due course in relation to those further charges on the indictment against Carberry; participating in or contributing to the transportation and disposal of the teenager's body parts for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a criminal organisation to commit murder and setting fire to a Volvo V40 motor car for the benefit of a criminal organisation.
Last week, Glen Bride (32) of Mount Olive Park, Kilbarrick, Dublin 5, also pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court to assisting in the movement and disposal of the murdered teenager's body parts.
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 in Drogheda, near where the teenager is believed to have been murdered.
In February 2023, the Special Criminal Court jailed Drogheda criminal Paul Crosby for ten 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, Drogheda, Co Louth pleaded guilty to the same charge.
The court had previously heard that the chief suspect for the murder was Robert Lawlor, a "notorious" criminal who was linked to several murders. Lawlor was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020. At the time of Keane Mulready Woods' murder, Lawlor was "heavily involved in a feud between rival criminal gangs in Drogheda".
Keane went missing on the late afternoon of January 12th, 2020. On January 14th, gardaí with a search warrant went to the home of Gerard 'Ged' McKenna (55) in Rathmullan Park in Drogheda, which was confirmed as the site of Keane's murder by DNA and blood spatter evidence. McKenna was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to assisting in the clean-up of the crime scene following the murder.
