A CONVICTED DOUBLE murderer who is currently serving two life sentences stabbed a fellow prison inmate using a stainless steel spoon that was fashioned into a knife, a court has heard.
Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Gary Howard to four years for his part in the attack, which left the victim with stab wounds to the neck and a punctured lung. The sentence will run alongside his two life terms as required by law meaning Howard will serve no extra time in prison.
“The attack was savage,” Judge Nolan said as he imposed the sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He noted Howard has a serious criminal record “to put it mildly”.
Howard (29) of Dunsoghly Grove, Finglas, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of violent disorder at Wheatfield Prison on 29 April, 2014.
He was jailed for life in 2012 for the murders of Patrick Mooney (58) and Brendan Molyneux (46) who were shot dead in inner city Dublin in January 2010.
Detective Garda Ciaran O’Dwyer told Derek Cooney BL, prosecuting, that the victim was walking through the prison with an officer when he was set upon by three inmates who were hiding behind a door.
CCTV footage from the prison showed the man being punched and stabbed a number of times by the men, including Howard. A makeshift knife was later found in Howard’s possession and shown to Judge Nolan in court. It was a stainless steel spoon with its handle sharpened into a knife.
The victim was rushed to Tallaght Hospital and later transferred to St James’s Hospital for surgery. He refused to co-operate with gardaí and the full extent of his injuries were unknown.
However, Detective Garda O’Dwyer said he saw the man had suffered neck stab wounds and a punctured lung when he visited him in hospital.
Defence barrister, Tony McGillicuddy BL, submitted his client had pleaded guilty to the offence at an early opportunity. He said there was little else he could say given Howard was currently serving two life sentences.
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