A HIGH Court challenge to prevent champion Limerick boxer Kevin Sheehy’s killer being transferred from Limerick Prison to a jail near his home in England will be heard on October 6.
Last month Mr Sheehy’s mother, Tracey Tully, won the right to challenge the decision by Justice Minister Helen McEntee to repatriate Logan Jackson to serve out the remainder of his life sentence in Coventry.
Ms Tully’s barrister, Arthur Griffin claimed that if the transfer goes ahead, Ms Tully will not have a say, nor be able to make submissions to the UK authorities should Jackson apply for parole.
Mr Griffin has also argued that 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 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 struggled to off the ground after he was first knocked down, but Jackson, behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Shogun 4×4, ran over him twice again at speed.
Although 31-year-old Jackson denied Mr Sheehy’s murder but admitted manslaughter, the jury unanimously rejected his defence of provocation.
Ms Tully said she had not been made aware of Jackson’s transfer request, nor had she being immediately informed of Minister McEntee’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.
The High Court will make a final decision on Jackson’s transfer request following the October 6 hearing.
