Kevin Sheehy's mum says ‘Minister had more concern for murderer, than for grieving family’

Tracy Tully has accused Justice Ministers Helen McEntee and Simon Harris of ignoring her pleas to stop the repatriation of English criminal Logan Jackson.

Jackson has served just over a year of a life sentence for killing her son, Kevin Sheehy.

Jackson (32), who is a member of a Coventry-based crime gang and an associate of Limerick’s notorious McCarthy/Dundon gang, was transferred from Limerick prison to the UK on Monday evening.

Mr Harris and the Department of Justice have cited the European Convention on Human Rights as the reason for granting the transfer order, despite repeated protests from the victim’s family.

Last year, Jackson’s move was delayed when the family mounted an unsuccessful challenge in the High Court, seeking to overturn the repatriation order, which must be signed off by the Justice Minister.

The issue was also raised in the Dáil a number of times by Limerick TD and former Fianna Fáil minister Willie O’Dea, who also petitioned the two Fine Gael ministers and his own party leader when Micheál Martin was Taoiseach.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ms Tully said the decision to move Jackson had left her feeling “embarrassed to be Irish”.

She said she had “lost all faith in the Irish justice system”.

“The Minister for Justice has shown more concern for the human rights of the monster who brutally murdered my son,” she said.

“There is no concern for Kevin’s human rights or his family’s human rights.

“My son was massacred by this monster [Jackson] who pleaded not guilty at his trial and pretended that he had been provoked, but a jury saw through his lies and unanimously found him guilty of murder.”

Ms Tully said she had been left “confused” by the decision and cannot understand why the minister was so determined to allow the killer’s transfer.

“No one will explain to me why he was granted a move to England within weeks of his conviction while the Minister for Justice has refused to allow other convicted murderers, who have served several years, to serve their sentences in their own countries.”

Kevin Sheehy (20) was a five-time national boxing champion who was destined for the Olympics.

He was walking home from a party with his cousin in the early hours of July 1, 2019, when Jackson deliberately ran him down at speed in a high-powered four-wheel-drive.

The victim’s cousin told the Central Criminal Court how he tried to pull Mr Sheehy off the road after the SUV initially ran over him but was forced to jump out of the way when the vehicle turned and drove over him a second time, dragging the boxer’s body up the road.

Mr Sheehy suffered multiple injuries including a “catastrophic head fracture” when Jackson drove over him a third time before he fled the scene at speed.

At his trial in December 2021, the prosecution said Jackson, of Longford Road, Coventry, had used the vehicle as a murder weapon “as sure and clear as if it was a gun or a knife”.

State counsel Dean Kelly SC said the defendant had created a “tapestry of self-serving lies” after “thundering” his UK-registered SUV “like a Formula 1 driver” into his victim.

The jury unanimously convicted Jackson of murder.

However, eight weeks into his sentence the killer, who was on 23-hour lock-up in Limerick prison for his own protection, successfully applied to be transferred on humanitarian grounds.

Willie O’Dea expressed his “profound anger and utter disgust” at the decision.

He accused the Justice Minister of being “heartless” in approving Jackson’s transfer.

“I am shocked at the sheer coldness and heartlessness of this decision and it is the antithesis of Fine Gael’s reputation as a law and order party,” Mr O’Dea said.

“The Minister for Justice says this decision was based in the interests of this thug’s human rights but there was no concern for the human rights of the victim or his family who are suffering terribly over this.

“In Limerick I have seen a lot of horrendous murders down through the years but the sheer brutality of Kevin’s murder exceeded the worst of them.

“This was a hugely talented young boxer who was destined for greatness in the sport whose life was quenched like a candle without any remorse.

“This man is a dangerous criminal with plenty of form and I will continue to demand the real explanation behind this decision,” he added.

Jackson, who has relatives in Limerick, has a prosthetic leg after being shot by rival criminals in a gang feud in Coventry.