News

Garda killer's shot ex-partner 'may have no quality of life'

Siobhan Phillips with Adrian Crevan Mackin
Siobhan Phillips with Adrian Crevan Mackin Siobhan Phillips with Adrian Crevan Mackin

THE young woman seriously injured by Garda killer Adrian Crevan Mackin may have no "quality of life" as a result of her injuries, a priest has said.

Mother-of-two Siobhan Phillips remains critically ill after she was shot by her partner Mackin just over a week ago in Omeath, Co Louth, close to the border.

Mackin also shot dead Garda Tony Golden (36) who was accompanying Ms Phillips to her home to collect belongings after she made a domestic complaint.

The 25-year-old killer then turned the gun on himself in a horrific murder-suicide.

It is feared Ms Phillips (21) could lose an eye due to her injuries after Mackin was said to have shot her in the head and once in each arm.

Fr Michael Cusack, rector at St Joseph's Monastery in Dundalk, branded the killer's actions as "cowardice".

"The way in which he takes out another life, leaves Siobhan in a condition that will probably never, ever really give her any quality of life at all, leaves Nicola [Garda Golden's wife] and her family bereft, and leaves the whole community saddened.

"It's a tough, tough time for the force on the border," he told RTÉ.

It comes after it emerged that Mackin made a threat to Siobhan Phillips's 82-year-old grandmother as he tried to stop her from leaving him.

He was also said to have threatened to kill other members of her family.

Mackin had been on bail after being charged earlier this year with being a member of a dissident republican organisation.

Only a handful of people attended his cremation at Roselawn Cemetery in Belfast last Friday.

For days his body lay unclaimed in the morgue of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda before being secretly collected by a Newry area funeral director.

It was a stark contrast to poignant scenes a day earlier when thousands of gardaí gathered in solidarity for the State funeral of their colleague Garda Golden.