Pair jailed for disposal of dismembered remains of Keane Mulready Woods

The Special Criminal Court has sentenced Stephen Carberry and Glen Bride to six years imprisonment for their roles in transporting and disposing of the dismembered remains of Keane Mulready-Woods, a seventeen-year-old murdered in Drogheda in January 2020. Carberry, aged 48, and Bride, aged 32, both pleaded guilty to assisting in the movement and concealment of body parts with the intent to obstruct the investigation. Justice Karen O'Connor characterised their conduct as demonstrating "abhorrent inhumanity and disrespect" toward the deceased and observed that few offences could constitute a more serious impediment to the course of justice. The circumstances emerged through Detective Sergeant evidence establishing that Carberry collected sports bags containing remains from Rathmullan Park and transported them to Dublin, where Bride drove a stolen vehicle containing further body parts from Drogheda. Bride subsequently set fire to a vehicle as part of the disposal. DNA evidence linked Carberry to items recovered at Moatview in North Dublin. The court heard that both men acted under instructions from Robbie Lawlor, the primary murder suspect, who was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020. Bride's six-year sentence commenced immediately following judgment. Carberry's term was reduced from seven years and six months to six years due to his bail status at the time of the offence, with the sentence to run consecutively to an existing eight-year drugs conviction. A victim impact statement from Keane's mother described the lasting trauma inflicted upon her family and the denial of dignity afforded to her son following his death. The teenager's torso was recovered from waste ground in Rathmullan fourteen months after his disappearance, with his remains having been scattered across Dublin and Donegal locations. The case forms part of broader prosecutions arising from criminal activity in the Drogheda area, with several individuals previously convicted in connection with the murder and its aftermath.