Garda killer Aaron Brady has turned to meditation in prison, it has emerged.
The killer is serving a 40-year-sentence for the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe nine years ago.
Brady’s father Tony revealed that his son was now locked up in an isolation unit of the country’s most secure jail.
Brady was convicted in 2020 for the 2013 murder of Det Gda Donohoe, 41, in a robbery in Co Louth.
His father, from Crossmaglen in Co Armagh, told a Facebook livestream on Friday night that his son was in good spirits – despite being locked up in the isolation wing of the prison.
He said: “He is physically in excellent condition and mentally very, very strong.
“He meditates, does a lot of mindfulness and he has done a lot of study.”
But Mr Brady criticised the prison service for putting his son in the isolation unit – which meant his family could not have physical contact with him on visits.
Mr Brady said: “He is actually being held in the segregation unit at Portlaoise, which is incorrect.
“It is against his human rights. It is something we are working on. It is sort of like a punishment wing and we are getting it difficult to get him back into the general population, where he should be.
“The problem with where he is being held at the minute, we cannot get open visits.
“Even when there were no Covid restrictions, we weren’t allowed to get in and hug him.
“We were in a little room that was completely sealed off [by]Perspex.
“The gym area and the amenities that he is entitled to are not available in that wing in the prison.
“He is to be reviewed again next week, but our legal team is working on that.
“We will not highlight it too much, we have to deal with that, we are not looking for sympathy.
“Aaron is dealing with it very well.”
The Prison Service declined to comment when contacted last night.
Brady has launched an appeal against his conviction, handed down after a mammoth trial at the Central Criminal Court.
Brady, of New Road in Crossmaglen, is the only person to have been charged with the murder of Det Gda Donohoe in a raid on the Lordship Credit Union at Bellurgan, North Louth, on January 23, 2013.
