Boiling water poured over killer’s face in gruesome jail attack

A man serving 20 years for killing a 16-year-old girl had boiling water poured over his face and chest in a gruesome prison attack.

Some of the steaming water went into Keith Hall’s eyes and ears and onto his mouth in what was the second serious assault on him since he was jailed for the manslaughter of Melanie McCarthy McNamara at the end of July.

Hall, aged 24, was convicted of the manslaughter of Ms McCarthy McNamara, who was mistakenly shot as she sat in a car on Brookview Way, Brookfield, Tallaght, on Feb 7, 2012.

The targets of the attack were two other passengers, including the teenager’s boyfriend.

The Central Criminal Court heard that Hall’s role was to throw a rock at the window of a house to lure the occupants out of it. He also helped to dispose of the gun.

Within days of being jailed, he was set upon in Mountjoy Prison by a group and had his face slashed with a makeshift blade.

It is understood he was placed, along with two inmates, into a protection cell for their safety.

Just over a week ago he was attacked in his cell. He was held down and boiling water from a kettle was poured over his chest and face.

“He was held down and they poured boiling water all over his face and his chest,” said one prison source.

” Some went into his eyes and ears and his mouth.”

Hall suffered serious injuries and was taken to the Mater Hospital, across the road from Mountjoy.

He was kept in the hospital for a week while doctors cared for his injuries.

Hall was brought back to hospital on Wednesday. It is not thought that he suffered any permanent injuries.

Hall has now been placed on protection again.

A Garda investigation is under way into the serious assault and interviews of inmates are being held.

The Prison Service is conducting its own internal inquiry also.

Sources explained that every cell has its own tea- making facilities, including a kettle.

Hall, of Kilmartin Drive, Tallaght, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of Ms McCarthy McNamara, who died the morning after the shooting.

Mr Justice Paul Carney handed down a 20-year jail term and refused a request by defence counsel to suspend any part of the sentence.

The court heard that Hall, a father of one, was a heroin addict with some 111 previous convictions dating back to when he was 14 years old. These included theft, burglary, drugs, and road traffic offences.