AN inquest into the death of murdered Limerick schoolboy Brooklyn Colbert has been scheduled for April 19 at Kilmallock courthouse.
The eleven-year-old was stabbed and beaten to death by his then 26-year old half-uncle Patrick Dillon, of Dalgaish Park, Moyross at a house on Shanabooly Road, Ballynanty, on November 8, 2019.
Dillon was given a life sentence in February 2021 after he pleaded guilty to the murder.
With the support of family and friends, Brooklyn’s devastated parents, Sonia Aylmer and former Limerick FC soccer player Wayne Colbert, have since raised funds for the Limerick homeless charity Novas.
They have also supported the Children’s Health Foundation at Temple Street Hospital for medical equipment, developing new services, funding research and new treatment facilities for seriously ill children.
Ms Aylmer has campaigned for changes to section 252 of the Children’s Act 2001, which prevented the identification of children murdered in the State.
At the time, she said the restrictions “were like I lost Brooklyn all over again, not being able to speak his name, in fact, it was like he never existed”.
Ms Aylmer described the lifting of the restriction in May 2021, as a “huge relief”, and she believed the only person who had benefited from it had been the man who murdered her beloved child.
In a previous tribute to her sports-mad son, Ms Aylmer said: “We had a beautiful relationship, Brooklyn was also a very good friend, a good neighbour, protective and kind. He really left a lasting impression on everyone he met.”
