A man described as a “psychotic, cowardly killer” in a victim-impact statement, who claimed he was acting in self-defence when he stabbed his aunt’s partner 16 times, has been jailed for nine years.
Sentencing Ryan Kearney, an alcoholic with 152 previous convictions, at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul Burns said the “extreme and sustained violence” used by the defendant was “truly shocking”.
He noted that the ability of the deceased, cancer survivor Jeffrey Jackson, to defend himself was limited due to his level of intoxication.
Kearney was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by a jury earlier this month.
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Kearney (39), with an address at Loughnamona Drive, Leixlip, Co Kildare, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Jackson (50) at The Lamps, School Street, Kilcock, Co Kildare, on February 8th, 2024.
Kearney has 152 previous convictions for offences including trespassing, theft, possession of drugs for sale and supply, criminal damage and endangerment.
In one of five victim-impact statements read to the court earlier this week, Mr Jackson’s older brother, Roy Jackson, said Kearney would “forever be known as the person who killed” his brother and that “every time” his cell door slams “it may be a reminder of him taking Jeffrey’s life”.
Mr Jackson told the court that seeing Kearney “with a smug look on his face” when the verdict was returned showed he had “no respect” and “no remorse” for their family. “Death is final, jail is not. Ryan Kearney you don’t deserve the privilege of being a free man.”
In her statement, Mr Jackson’s mother, Grace Jackson, said she was consumed “by the horrific manner” in which her son was killed.
“I can feel his fear and pain as he struggled to survive, not able to breathe, he’d been stabbed twice in the back, 16 stab wounds sustained, 45 bruises in total, trying to defend himself from a psychotic, cowardly killer.”
The defence argued that Kearney was not the aggressor and had done no more than he believed necessary in the circumstances to defend himself.
Michael Bowman SC, defending, told the jury in his closing address that his client was acting in self-defence when he fatally stabbed Mr Jackson, who counsel submitted was prone to “rage and violence” and who Kearney was “absolutely right” to call “a complete lunatic”.
He said his client was an alcoholic but whatever difficulties he had, he was not given to behaving in a manner involving violence and knives.
Before delivering the sentence on Thursday, Mr Justice Burns said Kearney arrived uninvited to Breda Kearney’s apartment, who was the defendant’s aunt through marriage. He said Mr Jackson was annoyed by Kearney’s arrival and that he was consuming their vodka.
The judge said the level of violence was “extreme” with 16 knife wounds to the deceased as well as some blunt force injuries. He said this indicated a sustained use of a knife.
The judge said Ms Kearney had to contact emergency services as the defendant had not done so and “a limited degree of a clean-up” had been attempted by the defendant before gardaí arrived. Kearney had also misled officers with “concocted events”.
He set the headline sentence at 12½ years in prison.
In mitigation, Mr Justice Burns noted the defendant had offered a plea of manslaughter before the trial, which had not been accepted by the DPP.
He said whilst Kearney had committed serious offences in the past, his history of offending was not a violent one. He said the defendant had a long history of alcohol dependency and abuse and had also expressed remorse in a short letter to the court.
Taking mitigation into account and to assist rehabilitation, Kearney was sentenced to 10 years in prison with the final year suspended for a period of three years. It was backdated to when he went into custody on February 8th, 2024.
