Annette Kinahan's world came crashing down when her 32-year-old son died ten years ago. John was found in a pub toilet with a needle in his arm in January 2013.
The mum is currently in a three-part documentary series in Ireland called Gaelic in the Joy, where she talks about her son and his addiction. In the show, she reveals she is still paying off her son's debts, ten years after his death.
Annette also says she has been threatened with a hammer and a gun by debt collectors. Speaking to co-host Philly McMahon, she said: “When he was 17 or 18, he started messing with hash. Then it progressed to tablets. He never had any money for anything.”
On when Annette's daughter told her her son was doing drugs, she said: “I must’ve been the most gullible mother in Dublin. I believed everything he told me.”
Annette is sharing her story in a bid to raise awareness of the impact that crimes have on innocent family members. Recalling the day a gangster showed up for a €5,000 debt her son owed, the mum said: “And then one day I got a knock on the door and this lovely chap with a hammer told me that he was here to collect a debt.
"I said that I didn’t owe any money. He said my son owed €5,000 and I had three days or he would be dead.” She then goes on to describe the moment she was threatened with a gun over another loan, Dublin Live reports.
She said: “I had a guy showed me his gun and said your son owes us €15,000. It spiralled out of control. I was working 12-hour shifts in a hospital to pay these people.
“I remember I got him in the corner one day – and he was six foot – and I beat the head off him. I’m not a violent person but I couldn’t take any more. Do you know what he says to me? ‘You’re killing me buzz’.
“Everything...we tried everything. But heroin was stronger.” In the second episode, which airs tonight in Ireland, Philly and Rory O’Connor feel the Mountjoy prisoners are not taking responsibility for the actions which led them to being incarcerated in prison in the first place. Philly decides to bring Annette into Mountjoy to meet the team and to give them some uncomfortable home truths.
Annette tells prisoners: “He was 32. He died with a needle in his arm in a pub on a filthy dirty toilet. He was there for five hours.”
Meanwhile, with discipline continuing to be a problem, Rory brings an old friend in to drill some discipline into them — Ultimate Hell Week chief instructor Ray Goggins. Philly and Rory have organised a challenge game against a team of ex-prisoners and staff from the Solas care after-prison group.
Gaelic in the Joy airs tonight 9.35pm in Ireland.
