Courts / Donegal / Report

Pair jailed for disposal of dismembered remains of Keane Mulready Woods

Date
2026-02-16

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Rathmullan

County
Donegal

Summary

The Special Criminal Court sentenced Stephen Carberry and Glen Bride to six years in prison for assisting in the disposal of the dismembered remains of Keane Mulready Woods. Both men pleaded guilty to charges of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of the alleged murderer, Robbie Lawlor, by transporting and burning the victim's body parts in a stolen Volvo V40 in north Dublin. Ms Justice Karen O'Connor described the acts as showing "abhorrent inhumanity and disrespect." Carberry, who had a headline sentence of ten years, received a reduced term due to his guilty plea and the requirement to serve a consecutive sentence for a prior drug offence. Bride, who played a lesser role, had his nine-year headline sentence reduced to six years following his guilty plea and expressions of remorse. The court noted that neither defendant was involved in the murder itself. This sentencing follows earlier convictions in the case: Paul Crosby was jailed for ten years for facilitating the murder; Gerard Cruise received seven-and-a-half years with six months suspended for two years for the same offence; and Ged McKenna was sentenced to four years for assisting an offender by cleaning the crime scene. The court acknowledged the severe trauma suffered by the victim's family, who described the disposal of their son's remains as a "constant and unbearable torment."

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Pair jailed for disposal of dismembered remains of Keane Mulready Woods. Charges or matters: a charge that, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods at Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, between the dates of January 11 and 13, 2020, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006; assisting in the movement and disposal of the murdered teenager's body parts which had been stowed in the boot of a stolen Volvo V40 and left in a residential area in north Dublin; charge that on a date between 13 January 2020 and 15 January 2020, both dates inclusive, within the State, knowing or believing another person to be guilty of the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods or some other arrestable offence, did without reasonable excuse, an act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of that other person; b

When:

July 2023 Hearing Or Sentence
April 2020 Incident
January 14 Other
13 January 2020 Incident
15 January 2020 Incident
January 12, 2020 Incident
January 15 Other
March 11, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
January 13, 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
December 2019 Incident
February 2023 Incident
January 11 Incident
2026-02-16 Publication

Why: One of the offenders – Stephen Carberry – had his sentence reduced as, because he was on bail when he moved the body parts, his prison terms must run consecutively and Ms Justice Karen O'Connor said she is required to consider the total impact of the combined sentences. CNI source report

Case subjects

Ged McKenna

Defendant

Charges: a charge that, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods at Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, between the dates of January 11 and 13, 2020, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 (Alleged Or Contested)

Outcome: Ged McKenna was sentenced to four years in prison for the offence of assisting an offender by cleaning up the crime scene following the murder at his home in Rathmullan Park. 'As if he was nothing' In a victim impact statement written by Keane's mother Elizabeth and read at both Carberry's and Bride's sentencing hearings, she said nothing could ever prepare a parent for losing a child, but the way her son had been taken and what was done to him after his death had left a level of trauma that she will carry for the rest of her life.

Gerard Cruise

Co Accused

Plea: Guilty

Glen Bride

Defendant

Charges: assisting in the movement and disposal of the murdered teenager's body parts which had been stowed in the boot of a stolen Volvo V40 and left in a residential area in north Dublin; charge that on a date between 13 January 2020 and 15 January 2020, both dates inclusive, within the State, knowing or believing another person to be guilty of the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods or some other arrestable offence, did without reasonable excuse, an act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of that other person; a charge that, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods at Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, between the dates of January 11 and 13, 2020, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: She set a headline sentence of nine years for Bride, but having considered his guilty plea and expressions of remorse, she reduced that to six years, beginning from today's date.

Keane Mulready Woods

Convicted Person

Charges: being a "trusted cog" in a €1.5 million cocaine and ecstasy operation; assisting in the movement and disposal of the murdered teenager's body parts which had been stowed in the boot of a stolen Volvo V40 and left in a residential area in north Dublin; charge that on a date between 13 January 2020 and 15 January 2020, both dates inclusive, within the State, knowing or believing another person to be guilty of the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods or some other arrestable offence, did without reasonable excuse, an act with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of that other person; a charge that, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods at Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, between the dates of January 11 and 13, 2020, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Keane Mulready Woods have each been sentenced to six years in prison by the Special Criminal Court.

Paul Crosby

Defendant

Outcome: In February 2023, the Special Criminal Court jailed Drogheda criminal Paul Crosby (30), last of Rathmullan Park, for ten years for facilitating the "disgraceful and inhuman" murder of the teenager.