AN INMATE in Limerick Prison, who admitted in court to issuing threats to rape and torture a fellow female prisoner, and threats to sexually assault a female prison officer, was acquitted of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to the two women.
Barbie Kardashian told her trial she had wanted to “torture” and “electrocute” the private parts of female prisoner Tegan McGhee using an “electric rod” on February 25, 2023.
Ms Kardashian, who denied one count of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Ms McGhee, intending that she would believe the threat would be carried out, was found not guilty by a jury of seven women and five men following a four-day trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
Ms Kardashian told the trial she had also wanted to rape prison officer Roisin Linnane, but that this would not have been a “realistic” threat as she was locked up alone in her cell for 22 hours a day.
The jury found Kardashian not guilty of three counts of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Ms Linnane, intending her to believe the threat would be carried out. Earlier Judge Colin Daly had directed the jury to find Kardashian not guilty of one of the counts against Ms Linnane.
Kardashian looked surprised after the verdicts were read out, asking her barrister – Andrew Sexton SC, instructed by Yvonne Quinn, BL, and solicitor Julianne Kiely – “on all three counts?”
Kardashian broadly smiled and whispered “I’m so happy”.
She gave direct evidence in court that she had wanted to make Ms McGhee and Ms Linnane “suffer” because she was upset after rumours had circulated around the female wing of the prison that she had been leaving the showers dirty with body hair.
Ms Kardashian claimed Ms Linnane, a prison officer, had been “openly intimidating” her on the prison landing and scowled her for taking from the canteen.
Ms Linnane denied this when she gave evidence and said she had been “terrified” of Kardashian after she threatened her.
Tegan McGhee told the trial that she accused Kardashian of leaving the showers dirty, which she herself had to clean a number of times, and that the accused in turn threatened to rape her.
Kardashian, who was not allowed mix with other prisoners on the female wing, told the trial she used the showers every day and left them clean.
Under cross examination from prosecution counsel, John O’Sullivan, Kardashian admitted threatening to rape Ms McGhee with an object so “she would not be able to have children”.
Mr O’Sullivan asked Kardashian “what object” would be used, to which she replied “I wanted to use an electric rod, but that wasn’t available to me.”
When asked why use the word “object”, Kardashian replied: “Because I am a woman, and women use objects, that’s why I said ‘object’.”
“I hate having male genitalia and I would use an object to commit rape.”
Ms Kardashian admitted in court to making a threat to rape Ms McGhee and making threats to sexually assault Ms Linnane.
“I wanted to punish them for life for making false allegations about me … I wanted revenge,” Kardashian said.
Kardashian, who the court heard was born a male named Gabriel Alejandro Gentile, and who had legally changed name by deed poll to Barbie Kardashian and had received a certificate from the State recognising her gender, agreed with Mr O’Sullivan that a threat of rape was “possibly the worst thing to do to a woman”.
Aiden O’Meara, another prison officer at Limerick Prison, gave evidence earlier that he heard Kardashian threaten to rape and kill Ms McGhee.
“I have no doubt the threat was made with malice and forethought,” Mr O’Meara told the court.
