Gardaí under fire more like ‘downtown LA’ than Cork, says judge, as she jails father and son

Gardaí coming under fire while executing a search warrant was more akin to downtown LA than Cork City, said a judge as she jailed a father of ten for nine years and one of his sons for four years for their part in the incident.

Judge Helen Boyle told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the discharge of a shot at members of the Armed Support Unit by James Keenan was a very serious matter and it was fortunate that neither members of the gardaí nor members of the Keenan family were killed.

Judge Boyle recalled the evidence of Det Insp Danny Coholan when he told how an ASU team under the command of Sgt Brian Teahan and including gardaí Barry O’Brien, Mick Ring, Mick Kelly and Emma Hennebry, entered the Keenan house at Island View, Rochestown on April 29th 2021.

They had identified themselves as armed gardaí and were wearing full tactical gear with garda markings when Gda Hennebry saw James Keenan aiming an improvised “slam bang” shotgun at her while Garda O’Brien noticed Keenan’s son, Peter, with another improvised shotgun in his hand.

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Judge Boyle said: “What happened next was something more akin that would happen in downtown Los Angeles than on the Rochestown Road – great credit is due to gardaí that no lives were lost either among An Garda Síochána or the Keenan family,” she said.

Judge Boyle had heard how Gda Hennebry had a lucky escape when the shot fired by James Keenan missed her and lodged in the door and she escaped with just soft tissue injuries to her elbow even though she told in a Victim Impact Statement how it changed her view of her work.

The court heard that James Keenan apologised immediately at the scene, repeatedly saying “I’m sorry” and he expressed relief that Gda Hennebry had not been injured while he subsequently expressed remorse for his actions and those of other members of the family.

James Keenan’s defence counsel, Tom Creed SC, said the Keenans had been involved in a feud with the McDonaghs who had come and smashed their car some time earlier and James Keenan thought that it was the McDonaghs coming to attack them when he heard the gardaí enter the house.

James Keenan had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to a total of four charges including assault causing harm to Gda Hennebry and unlawful possession of both an improvised shotgun and cartridges and possession of 23 petrol bombs that gardaí found distributed about the house.

James Keenan’s sons, Peter (28), John (26) and Michael James (20), also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of an improvised firearm, Peter and John pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of ammunition and Peter also pleaded guilty to a third charge of possession of petrol bombs.

Judge Boyle recalled evidence from Det Insp Coholan that Peter Keenan had a second improvised “slam bang” shotgun in his hand, and he looked to be readying to fire it when he was confronted by gardaí but he lowered the barrel and dropped the weapon when ordered to do so.

She said she accepted that the Keenans were in a feud with the McDonaghs at the time and thought that they were under attack by the McDonaghs but possessing the improvised shotguns, ammunition and petrol bombs were all serious offences that could not be ignored.

The possession of the improvised shotguns by James and Peter Keenan were aggravating factors but she said the fact that both men, along with John and Michael James, had pleaded guilty and spared the state the cost of a trial, and witnesses the trauma of giving evidence, was to their credit.

She had previously heard that James Keenan had 49 previous convictions though none for firearm offences, while Peter Keenan had 34 previous convictions and John Keenan had 29 previous convictions. Michael James had no previous convictions.

Judge Boyle noted Peter Keenan’s guilty plea and his expression of remorse for his actions and while the improvised “slam bang” shotgun was a crude weapon, it could be effective and possession of it and the ammunition amounted to serious criminal offences that merited a custodial sentence.

Similarly, Peter Keenan’s possession of petrol bombs, which could have caused serious injury not only to anyone attacking the house but to the Keenan family themselves, was also a serious offence as she sentenced him to five years in jail before suspending the final 12 months.

Judge Boyle noted that defence counsel, Seamus Roche SC for Michael James Keenan, and Ray Boland SC for John Keenan, had applied to have sentencing of their clients adjourned for a year to see if they continued to behave themselves after hearing they had not been in trouble since.

Judge Boyle said she would accede to both applications and she adjourned sentencing of both men until 2024 though she warned John Keenan that he should assume nothing, and was still at risk of receiving a custodial sentence when the matter came before her again.