A convicted killer has been sanctioned by prison authorities after a phone was discovered in his cell - following a social media 'selfie.'
The Mirror has learned that Dean Kerrie (21), who is serving a three and a half year prison sentence for stabbing and killing Jack Power in Dunmore East, Co Waterford in 2018, was caught with the phone in the last number of weeks.
Sources confirmed that Kerrie was issued with a P19 sanction for possession of the phone -after this photo appeared on social media featuring him and a number of other prisoners posing for a selfie inside a cell in Dublin’s Wheatfield Prison.
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The photo, in which Kerrie is front in centre, features the caption “Up Wheatfield east 3 killers” and was posted to social media site ‘Snapchat’ in January.
Authorities within the Irish Prison Service were then made aware of its presence and an investigation and subsequent search was carried out in Kerrie’s cell in which a phone was then discovered.
In response to a query from this paper a spokesperson for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said it cannot comment on individual prisoner cases.
In general however the IPS have stated that preventing access of contraband “will always remain a high priority,” and in a recent statement said that there has been an increase in certain types of incidents of this nature.
“We have seen an increase in the number of “throw overs” i.e.contacts on the outside attempting to throw mobile phones and drugs into exercise yards.
“Due to the regimes currently in operation in our prisons, prison staff have been able to identify and intercept many of these “throw overs "ensuring they do not reach the prison population,” the IPS said.
Staff have also carried out random and “intelligence led cell searches” on a daily basis.
In 2022 a total of 1,425 mobile phones were seized from prisons across the country.
During Dean Kerrie’s sentencing hearing in October last year Mr Justice Paul McDermott said he was entitled to use force in defence of himself, his family and his home, but the force he used was "grossly" excessive given that the victim, Jack Power, was unarmed.
Taking into account that Kerrie was 17 at the time, showed genuine remorse and that he did not expect or instigate the violence on the night, the judge imposed a sentence of four years and six months with the final year suspended for two years.
The sentence is backdated to June 30th 2022 - to take into account time Kerrie has already spent in custody.
Kerrie, with an address at St Brigid's Square, Portarlington in Co Laois was twice tried for murder but convicted by a jury of manslaughter for killing Mr Power after the deceased had entered his home at Shanakiel in Dunmore East, Waterford in the early hours of July 26th, 2018.
Delivering sentence, Mr Justice McDermott said that in impact statements made to the court, Jack Power's family had said that they felt their son had no voice in the courtroom.
Trials, the judge said, focus on rules and evidence and provide "cold comfort for relatives whose loss is profound and life-long."
He described the deceased as an "exceptionally hard-working young man" who loved his work as a fisherman and was "fuelled by his father's encouragement". He was a role model and a fun companion for his brothers and his loss is "incalculable". He added: "Nothing I do or say will alleviate this suffering. The sentence I impose must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence of manslaughter and also appropriate to his [Kerrie's] circumstances."
The trial heard that Jack Power had been drinking into the early hours and at about 3am saw damage to his car which he believed had been caused by Dean Kerrie.
He went to Kerrie's home, picked up a rock and smashed the front window of the Kerrie home. He then entered through the front door. Mr Justice McDermott said Mr Power assaulted Dean Kerrie in his bedroom and there was a suggestion that he also attacked
Kerrie's mother. Kerrie told gardai that he found a knife by the side of the bed and stabbed Mr Power in the course of the melee.
Mr Justice McDermott said that he does not believe the court has heard the truth about the "provenance of the knife and how it was found but he armed himself quickly" and used the knife.
Mr Justice McDermott said: "I have to consider the nature of what happened that night. The Oireachtas has recognised the special position of those obliged to defend themselves or their property from unlawful attack, particularly in their home. That is therefore a matter that has to be taken into account when considering the culpability of the accused. Those who are attacked in the home are entitled to use force and sometimes lethal force in defence of themselves and their home."
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