Courts / Louth / Report

Drogheda criminal Crosby gets 10 years for role in 'inhuman' Mulready-Woods murder

Date
2023-02-10

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Drogheda

County
Louth

Summary

At the Special Criminal Court on 10 February 2023, Paul Crosby of Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment with the final six months suspended for two years, following his guilty plea to facilitating the murder of seventeen-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods. His co-accused Gerard Cruise, with addresses in Drogheda and Dublin, received seven-and-a-half years with the final six months suspended. Both men pleaded guilty to charges under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 of assisting a criminal organisation in the killing, which occurred in January 2020. Mr Justice Tony Hunt described the treatment of the teenager's remains as "disgraceful and inhuman". Evidence established that Crosby arranged to meet the victim and travelled with Cruise to Rathmullan Park where the murder took place. The judge found Crosby held a higher level of involvement in the criminal organisation than Cruise. The court heard the chief suspect, Robert Lawlor, was subsequently shot dead in Belfast. The victim's mother provided a detailed impact statement to the court.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Drogheda criminal Crosby gets 10 years for role in 'inhuman' Mulready-Woods murder. Charges or matters: the same charge; public order matters and a burglary in 1990. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

January 11 Hearing Or Sentence
January 12, 2020 Other
March 11, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
February 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
November 10, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
April 2020 Other
January 14 Other
January 12 Incident
December 8, 2020 Incident
2023-02-10 Publication

Case subjects

Gerard Cruise

Co Accused

Charges: the same charge; public order matters and a burglary in 1990 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: The maximum that each man could have faced was 15 years imprisonment.

Paul Crosby

Defendant

Charges: the same charge; public order matters and a burglary in 1990 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: He set the headline sentence for Crosby at 13 years and six months but having considered his guilty plea he reduced that to ten years and six months with the final six months suspended for two years. Since going into custody, he has engaged with the Irish Red Cross and has a Gaisce Award in employment skills. "The green shoots of recovery are well established," he said, adding: "he is now abstinent [from drugs] and has been for some time in custody." Crosby is also entitled to a 25 percent discount on whatever headline sentence the court sets due to his early guilty plea, counsel said.