A woman who is serving a prison term for her part in the abduction by Christopher Crowley of his six-year-old daughter Deirdre, whom he later shot dead, is in danger of being attacked or murdered in prison, the Supreme Court was told yesterday.
Mr Martin Neligan, of Station House, Fermoy, Co Cork, yesterday asked the Supreme Court to direct, under Article 40 of the Constitution, the immediate release from Limerick prison of his daughter, Regina. She is due for release later this year.
However, the three-judge Supreme Court said it could not interfere in the matter unless Mr Neligan could show his daughter was unlawfully detained.
Regina Neligan (34) was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with the last six months suspended in February 2003 for her part in the abduction of Deirdre Crowley.
Neligan assisted Christopher Crowley, formerly of Greenwood Estate, Togher, Cork, in the abduction. Crowley died on August 30th, 2001, having first shot his daughter. The child's mother, Ms Christine O'Sullivan, was Crowley's former partner.
Yesterday, Mr Neligan made a personal appeal to the Supreme Court for the release of his daughter whom, he alleged, had been attacked a number of times in the prison.
In the Supreme Court yesterday, Mr Justice Murray said that Mr Neligan could, and the court presumed he had done so, inform the governor of Limerick Prison of his concerns for his daughter's safety. The court sympathised with Mr Neligan's concerns but could not interfere.