A nephew of murdered Limerick crime boss Kieran Keane, has been jailed for four years with the final year suspended, after he falsely imprisoning his then girlfriend and subjected her to a vicious assault.
David Keane, (32), Island Road, Assumpta Park, Limerick, swung an axe at the woman, stood on her head, and beat her during the two-hour attack.
It happened at Cherrydale Court, Dublin Road, Limerick, in April 2021, the Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Keane attacked the woman after he started arguing with her over how much money she had received in a pay-slip from her job.
When the woman replied that her wages was her own business, Keane retorted, “It is my business, I’m your boyfriend, I own you,” the court heard.
Keane's uncle, Kieran Keane, was tortured and shot dead in Drombana, Co Limerick, in January 2003 as part of a gangland feud. Five men are serving life sentences for the killing.
Sentencing Judge, Colin Daly, said David Keane locked the woman into the apartment so “the victim could not escape the violence”.
“He (Keane) pulled her by the hair and threw her to the ground and attacked her with an axe,” the judge said.
Keane, who has two children from another relationship, ran at the woman with a small axe or hatchet, narrowly missing her after she ducked out of the way of the blade.
Judge Daly said Keane stood on the woman’s head, and banged her head on a bathroom floor.
After a sustained two-hour assault, the woman managed to flee the apartment and run out onto the street but Keane tried to drag her by her hair back into the flat.
Judge Daly said that a “caretaker” at the apartment intervened and the woman eventually fled from Keane’s clutches.
Keane returned to the flat, barricading himself inside, and was eventually arrested after Gardai broke into the property after Keane would not respond to their requests to come out.
Judge Daly said the woman sustained “bruising to her chest, head and arms, as well as abrasions, a head injury, and multiple soft tissue injuries”.
“Mr Keane prevented her from leaving during a sustained assault over a two-hour period and the imprisonment in her own home has also left her with psychological injuries,” the judge said.
Keane and the woman are no longer in a relationship.
Writing in a victim impact statement, which was read out in court on her behalf, the women said it had been a “horrendous, violent and vicious attack”.
She stated: “I continue to suffer from extreme post traumatic stress disorder, sometimes I spend weeks and months without any contact with the outside world, and I am very often overwhelmed by feelings of shame attached to my attack - wondering if I could have prevented it.”
The woman stated the incident alls left her suffering with “stress-related alopecia (hair loss)”.
“I am crippled emotionally and physically, and I constantly live in fear that I will become a prisoner again,” she stated.
They woman explained that she continues to suffer from “night terrors”, flashbacks, and “thoughts of ending my life” and that “trust has become a major barrier to me now, following this harrowing experience”.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, thanked her family and friends for their continued support.
Judge Daly said Keane is someone “who has history of domestic violence”.
Keane pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, and assault causing harm at the woman’s flat.
He also pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman causing her harm and threatening her with a pitch fork, at Blackwater, Ardnacruhsa, Co Clare, as well as a third count of assaulting the woman causing her harm at Island Road, Limerick City.
Judge Daly said he felt a “five-year” jail sentence was “appropriate” for the false imprisonment offence, which carries a maximum life sentence.
The judge said he reduced the sentence to four years with the final year suspended, after taking into account Keane’s “guilty plea”, “personal circumstances and family challenges and question-marks over his intellectual functioning”, as well as Keane’s “drug use”, his position as a “career for his sister”, and engagement with Le Cheile restorative justice services.
Keane’s barrister, senior counsel Andrew Sexton, said Keane had “come from a family which led to him having challenges”.
Mr Sexton said Keane’s family dynamic was “a tricky situation and I’m not going to go into it in open court”.
“When he behaves himself and he doesn’t fly off the handle he appears to be a decent person, and he cares for his sister,” the barrister added.
Judge Daly imposed an 18-month concurrent jail sentence for the assault on the woman at Ardnacrusha, and took into consideration the other offences but he noted he had taken into account the assault at the woman’s home as an “aggravating factor” in Keane’s jail sentence for false imprisonment.
Judge Daly ordered that Keane must engage with probation services and not commit any further offences for a period of four years after he is released from jail, or face a possible activation of the twelve months suspended from his sentence.
Keane’s uncle Christy Keane was previously sentenced to ten years in jail for possessing almost €250,000 worth of cannabis for sale or supply. After he was released from prison Christy Keane was seriously wounded in an attempt on his life in 2015.
