Limerick boxer's mother gets date to challenge killer's prison transfer
Kevin Sheehy died in July 2019 after a jeep driven by Logan Jackson repeatedly drove over him. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
A High Court challenge aimed at preventing the man who murdered champion Limerick boxer Kevin Sheehy being transferred from Limerick Prison to one in England will be heard on October 6.
Mr Sheehy’s mother, Tracey Tully, won the right to challenge the decision by Justice Minister Helen McEntee last July.
Ms Tully’s barrister, Arthur Griffin BL, instructed by Sinead Nolan of Mark Murphy solicitors, Limerick, has claimed that if the transfer goes ahead, Ms Tully will not have a say, nor be able to make submissions to British authorities should her son’s killer Logan Jackson apply for parole.
Mr Griffin has also argued the prison transfer would breach Ms Tully’s rights under the 2017 Victim of Crime Act; that it is unconstitutional; and that it is an “abdication of the Irish State’s responsibility to determine when a person serving a life sentence may be paroled”.
Jackson was jailed for life last December after a jury unanimously convicted him of murdering Mr Sheehy, 20, by repeatedly driving over him after knocking him down with a jeep at Hyde Road, Limerick, on July 1, 2019.
The Central Criminal Court heard the five-times national boxing champion, who was tipped to represent Ireland at the 2024 Olympic Games, had fought to get up off the ground after he was first knocked down, but Jackson, behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Shogun 4x4, ran over him twice again at speed.
Jackson, aged 31, denied Mr Sheehy’s murder but admitted manslaughter, but the jury unanimously rejected his defence of provocation.
The court heard Jackson, of Longford Road, Coventry, attempted to lead gardaí “on a merry dance” with a “tapestry of self-serving lies”, and that Mr Sheehy was an innocent victim.
Ms Tully said she had not been made aware of Jackson’s transfer request, nor had she been immediately informed of the justice minister’s decision to allow the transfer after only three months into Jackson’s life sentence last March.
Speaking after the High Court granted her leave to appeal the decision to allow the prisoner transfer, Ms Tully, said she was “overwhelmed” and “very proud” of herself that she had pursued the action.
“The minister’s decision was made without any consideration to any member of my son’s family, and I just think the way it was handled was very disrespectful to victims' families, and we have rights,” said Ms Tully.
“Kevin is always with me, I feel that, I wouldn't be able to do it without him. I feel we are being heard now, I’m very thankful to the judge.”
The High Court will make a final decision on Jackson’s transfer request following the October 6 hearing.
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