Kieran Keane murderers get life

Five Limerick men were tonight jailed for life after being convicted of the murder of Limerick crime boss Kieran Keane and the attempted murder of his nephew Owen Treacy.

After deliberating for more than 15 hours over three days in the Central Criminal Court, the jury of seven women and five men returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all five accused for the murder of Kiean Keane at Drombana, Limerick on January 29 last.

The jury also found them guilty of the attempted murder of Owen Treacy and of two counts of falsely imprisoning Kieran Keane and Owen Treacy on the same date.

They are: Desmond Dundon (aged 20) of Hyde Road, Limerick; David "Frogs Eyes" Stanners (aged 31) of Pineview Gardens, Moyross; James McCarthy (aged 24) of Delmege Park, Moyross; Christopher "Smokie" Costelloe (aged 20) of Moylish Avenue, Ballynanty Beg and Anthony "Noddy" McCarthy (aged 21) of Fairgreen, Garryowen.

As they were being led away, Anthony "Noddy" McCarthy shouted towards the Keanes; "For every action there's a reaction - remember that". James McCarthy shouted "bastard" towards Owen Treacy.

On the stand, Sophie Keane said the men that killed her husband were "animals".

She said "time has stood still" and that her life was finished the day "they took my husband's life".

Asked what he did, one of the accused shouted: "He sold drugs and killed people, he killed Eddie Ryan."

Kieran Keane (aged 36) of Garryowen Limerick had his hands tied behind his back and shot once in the head in an execution-style killing. There was evidence that he was tortured at or before the time of death.

Owen Treacy (aged 31) of Munchin's Street, St Mary's Park, Limerick was stabbed 17 times.

Treacy, the chief prosecution witness, was in court as the jury came back with their verdict shortly before 6pm.

Armed gardaí from the Emergency Response Unit, attached to the Special Detective Unit, formed a barrier between the five accused, their supporters and Owen Treacy who sat at the back of the court.

Relatives and supporters of the accused and the victim were searched before being allowed to enter the courtroom.

The state's case was that all five accused acted as part of a joint enterprise and as such, were all involved in the murder and abduction.

From the outset, the court was told that this was a "one-witness case" with the charges against the five accused depending on the evidence and credibility of Owen Treacy.

During eight days in the witness box, in which he was subjected to intense cross-examination by five defence teams, Mr Treacy alleged that four men were to be murdered on the night Kieran Keane was shot dead and he himself was left fighting for his life after being stabbed 17 times.

The court heard that he and Kieran Keane arrived at Anthony "Noddy" McCarthy's house in Fairgreen, Limerick at approximately 7pm on the night of the killing and were led inside by Mr X, who is not before the court.

Desmond Dundon placed hoods over their heads and taped their hands behind their backs.

Anthony "Noddy" McCarthy pointed a handgun at them and ordered them to sit.

Two others came in from the kitchen: although they were wearing balaclavas he said he recognised David "Frogs Eyes" Stanners by his eyes and voice.

They were then told to lure two brothers, Kieran and Philip Collopy "out the road" but they refused. Owen Treacy said it was clear they intended to kill the Collopys as well as himself and Kieran Keane.

"If me or my uncle Kieran made that call, there was four of us going to be killed that night," he had said.

After approximately one hour in Fairgreen they were ordered into the boot of a silver micra at gunpoint.

The micra was driven by Noddy McCarthy with Mr X in the passenger seat. They were taken to another house in Roundwood where they were again asked to make a call to the Collopys to get them "out the road" to the Sandmall Bank.

Noddy McCarthy then walked them at gunpoint to a waiting hiace van. David Stanners drove, James McCarthy sat in front and Christopher "Smokie" Costelloe sat in the back with a gun.

The jury had heard that they were driven around for some 35 minutes. When the van stopped at a lonely road at Drombana, David Stanners pulled Kieran Keane out while Smokie held the gun.

Owen Treacy had told the court he watched Kieran Keane "being pushed to the ground like a dog and shot like a dog with his hands tied behind his back".

"I witnessed that man [Stanners} shoot my uncle Kieran in the head," he said.

Smokie Costelloe then came at Owen Treacy with a knife and stabbed him in the neck at which point David Stanners grabbed it and began stabbing him "almost to death".

Owen Treacy claimed that as he stabbed him, David Stanners looked him in the eye and said: "This is the last face you're going to see."

He told the court he heard James McCarthy saying "come on, he's dead" and the three left the scene.

Owen Treacy said he heard Kieran Keane moaning and he ran for help. The court heard that while in the van, he managed to loosen his hands.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy told the court that Kieran Keane died from as single gunshot wound to the head.

However, he also sustained six stab wounds to the left ear which she described as "torture-type wounds".

Evidence in the 31-day trial was heard in Cloverhill Courthouse, attached to Wheatfield Prison, for security reasons.

It was the first time in the history of the state that the Central Criminal Court has heard a trial in Dublin outside the Four Courts or he Special Criminal Court.

Each day the jury were given an armed garda escort as they were driven to and from court in a minibus with blacked out windows. Relatives of the accused and the victim were searched and had their belongings put through airport-type scanning equipment.

The trial was moved back to the Four Courts last Thursday for the jury's deliberations. A previous attempt to hold the trial in Limerick were thwarted when the court failed to empanel a jury.

During the course of the trial, there were multiple applications to discharge the jury because of what the defence claimed was prejudicial media coverage.

There were also two applications to injunct radio broadcast, including Tonight with Vincent Browne. All were rejected.

There was also an attempt made to cite a named newspaper for alleged contempt of court.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said he would forward the material complained of to the Attorney General.

Exempting the jury from further jury service for life, trial judge Mr Justice Paul Carney, paid tribute to their courage and sacrifice. Arrangements were made to have them safely evacuated from the court building.

He sentenced all five accused to the mandatory life sentence for murder and deferred sentence for the remaining three counts until February 3 when the court will sit in Limerick City.

Leave to appeal was refused.