Twisted killer so despised he was booted out of Ireland for own safety after becoming country’s most hated prisoner
THE grieving mum of murdered boxer Kevin Sheehy has questions she wants answered about threats made to her son’s killer which resulted in his transfer.
Heartbroken Tracey Tully says she has been kept totally in the dark despite the Department of Justice saying evil Logan Jackson would be “harmed or killed” if he continued to remain in an Irish prison.
Jackson was jailed for life in December 2020 after he repeatedly ran over Kevin in an unprovoked attack on July 1, 2019.
He has never apologised for the barbaric murder and made his application for a transfer to a UK jail just weeks after starting his sentence.
Tracey — who is still waiting to receive correspondence on the controversial transfer from Justice Minister Simon Harris — wants to know who threatened her son’s killer.
She said: “I want to know who threatened this man and why this scandalous decision was made.
“Did the guards go to the prison and tell the authorities he was under some type of threat — I want answers?
“If the prison authorities have it on record that there was a threat against him we have a right to know.”
Kevin’s mum also outlined how she has yet to receive any word from authorities at Wandsworth Prison in the UK, where Jackson is currently being held.
She added: “They told me that when he was moved I would be kept informed of his status in the UK prison. But I still haven’t heard anything from them or anything from the Justice Minister.
“He (Jackson) took my son’s future but everything in this nightmare has been geared towards (helping) him.”
She was speaking as it emerged Jackson couldn’t continue to serve out a life sentence in an Irish jail because State authorities feared he would be harmed or killed in custody.
The extraordinary acknowledgment by the State, that a prisoner who committed a murder here could not be detained in any jail in the State because of fears for the prisoner’s safety — and the safety of members of the Irish Prison Service — was outlined in a statement from the justice department.
Jackson murdered five-time national boxing champion Kevin by repeatedly ramming the innocent 20-year-old with a 4×4 Jeep as he was walking along Hyde Road in Limerick City on July 1, 2019.
Jackson, of Longford Road, Coventry, was transferred from Limerick Prison to a jail in his native England on March 13 last.
TRANSFER APPLICATION
Sources with knowledge of the case confirmed that Jackson applied to be transferred out of Limerick Prison on January 13, 2022, a mere 23 days into his life sentence.
The transfer was eventually granted by the Minister Harris, despite repeated protests from the victim’s family, who say they were never aware of any threat to Jackson.
After hearing about the reasons given for Jackson’s transfer, Kevin’s mum said: “I feel like my human rights have not been considered. I wasn’t notified this had happened.
“Is it right that he is transferred out of Ireland and the case is still an ongoing investigation? I just feel I have been mentally abused by the (State) for the last three years.”
‘SECURITY RISKS’
The Department of Justice revealed that, in considering Jackson’s transfer request, Minister Harris was required by law to consider a number of factors “including that Mr Jackson has been on 23-hour lockdown for the three years he has been in custody due to very significant security risks.
These risks constituted a threat to the staff and prisoners at Limerick Prison, as well as Mr Jackson.”
The Department also revealed that “as part of the considerations of Mr Jackson’s application, a wider security assessment was also carried out and indicated these risks would persist in any Irish prison”.
Gardai suspect others assisted Jackson on the night of the murder and they are continuing to build a case to bring these people to justice.
A Garda spokeswoman confirmed: “This investigation remains active and ongoing.”
Ms Tully said she has written to the Justice Minister saying that she feels she has been “gaslighted” and “threatened” by his office, which sought to land her with the Minister’s legal bill when she challenged his decision last year in the High Court. However, she says she has not had a response.
“They were throwing bills at me to try and gaslight me and to throw me off challenging the Minister’s decision, it’s all very unsettling,” she said.
‘MENTAL TORTURE’
Ms Tully subsequently did not have to pay the Minister’s or Jackson’s legal fees, however she said she was put “in fear” of this happening.
That High Court case was resolved when the original decision to transfer Jackson was rescinded and the case was struck out on agreement. An order was also made that Ms Tully’s legal costs be paid by the State.
She said: “I hope no other family goes through this mental torture by the State. Logan Jackson is gone now, he is no longer subject to the laws of this land where he killed my son, and not only have I lost my son, but my family have been treated terribly. It was mental torture having to take a case against the Minister on top of suffering the grief of losing my son.
“Logan Jackson took my son’s human rights monstrously — so if we are talking of human rights, I want to know about Kevin’s human rights.”
‘SHOULD SERVE HERE’
She maintains Jackson should serve his sentence in Ireland where he killed her son and “not in the land he chooses to spend the rest of his days in”.
A spokesman for Minister Harris said he “will be responding to” Ms Tully about her concerns.
He said that “to further strengthen the rights of victims, Minster Harris recently received Government approval to change the law to make it a statutory requirement to notify victims registered with the Irish Prison Service that an application for transfer outside the State has been made by a prisoner serving a sentence here”.
The Irish Prison Service was provided with a copy of the Department of Justice statement relating to security concerns around staff, the prisoner population and Jackson, and asked for a response.
An IPS spokeswoman said it “does not comment on individual prisoner cases”.