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The family of Siobhán Kearney who was murdered by her husband Brian in their home in Dublin in 2006, has expressed horror and disappointment that he is to be allowed two outside visits with his family under a Parole Board recommendation.
Mrs Kearney’s sister Brigid McLoughlin described the Parole Board recommendation as “absolutely sickening” when speaking on RTÉ radio’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show.
She told that Brian Kearney has had an application for parole refused, for the second time, but that the Parole Board recommended he be considered for “neutral venue visits” with his family. This would involve visits with relatives outside of prison to aid “re-socialisation and reintegration”.
“We are bitterly disappointed that Brian Kearney is being allowed out. How can he be rehabilitated? He is unrepentant and has shown no remorse. He is 52kg of absolute evil.”
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Not consulted
Ms McLoughlin said that her family had not been consulted about the outside visits, but that they had objected to his parole appeal in a letter.
“Siobhán was throttled and garroted in her own bedroom in Goatstown. She was strangled, hung over the bathroom door and left to die. The hoover was left beside the bed, he locked the door so she couldn’t escape.
“That’s the death she had with her three year old son in the next room. The impact of this on our family is huge.”
She said that everything had changed for their family after Siobhán’s death. “Everything is completely different. Joy exists in pockets, each pocket is more poignant.”
Ms O’Loughlin said she feared she or other family members could bump into Kearney on one of his outside days. “This is gradually becoming the norm for wife killers. This is a national issue. How can any one imagine what this is like for us?”
She said that before Kearney was convicted she would sometimes see him in Dun Laoghaire “smirking at me”.
“Ireland is a small place, if I don’t bump into him, someone I know will. It is absolutely sickening, I am a nervous wreck.”
Detailed letter
Ms O’Loughlin said her family has written a detailed letter every time a parole appeal has come up for Kearney. “We can’t be too emotional, we’ve been advised. We do it as carefully as we can. We’re bitterly disappointed that Brian Kearney will be free to operate. This is a freedom that no prisoner should be allowed. Life should be for life.
“This was not a crime of passion. This was pre meditated, he staged the scene. He lied and lied. She was throttled and garroted in her bedroom.
“Why should he be allowed out two days a year? Siobhán doesn’t have two days a year. She was snuffed out of this world as if she was nothing. In the funeral parlour when she was laid out in the coffin she had black bruise marks on her neck, a family friend had to find a scarf to cover the marks. Her fingers were black from defensive wounds.
“There has been no closure for us. The parole hearing triggers it for all of us. We have to try to process that horror every day. We are so upset by this. How much can we take?”