Grieving mum "devastated" after man who was jailed over son's murder released after just 39 days

A grieving mother whose son was brutally murdered in an isolated field in Ballymacan near Collon, Co, Meath in 2014 says she is "devastated" that a man convicted of withholding information about the case has been released after spending just 39 days in prison.

Paul Gallagher (26) was shot dead in a field at Ballymacan on Monday 28 July 2014. His body was found by his brother and sister lying face down with gunshot wounds to his back and neck.

Dubliner Sean Barrett, 33, was jailed for two years at Trim Circuit Court with the final eighteen months suspended, on March 5 for withholding information.

Barrett was due to be released on July 20 but is now a free man after his release on April 15 by the Irish Prison Service.

No one has ever been brought to justice for the callous killing.

Ahead of an appeal on RTE’s Crime call tonight, the family is now calling on anyone with information on the murder to come forward.

The murder victim’s mother Geraldine Gallagher says she is “horrified” by Barratt's release and has raised the issue with Justice Minister Helen McEntee. She added:

“As a family were devastated to learn that somebody who initially got a two-year sentence that was suspended by 18 months with the judge stating to serve six months on that sentence as a deterrent could serve just 39 days in what we think as a family is a horrific crime.

“Sean Barrett was released because the Irish Prison Service on behalf of the Minister for Justice was looking at the file and reckoned because of the sentence, the nature and gravity of the offence and his prior record he was not deemed to be a threat to the public.

“We thought we were getting some form of justice at last after seven years however that has not taken place.

“We have been in touch with the Minister for Justice and we got an initial reply which states that the minister cannot get involved in an open murder investigation but she unwittingly has by giving authority to the Irish Prison Service to release Sean Barratt.”

In March Trim Circuit Court heard how at around 10.30pm on 28th July 2014, Paul travelled to Ballymacan, Collon from his home in Donameade, Dublin in the company of Sean Barratt. In Tullyallen village prior to arriving at Ballymacan, they were joined by two other men.

When they arrived at Ballymacan, Barrett claimed he was ordered to walk ahead and keep “lookout”.

He later told Gardaí he had heard a shot and “a scream” followed by three more shots. Barrett then returned to Dublin and contacted Paul’s family on July 29, vowing to “hunt him down”.

The following day Barrett travelled with the victim’s sister and brother on the journey to the remote countryside where they made the grim discovery.

The court was told he failed to tell gardaí, when first interviewed as a witness, that he knew the first names of two men who had travelled with himself and Mr Gallagher to Ballymacan

Paul’s sister Marie describes how she found her brother face down with gun shot wounds.

“You can’t believe that you are looking at your younger brother lying dead in a field. You wouldn’t leave an animal lying dead in a field for two days why did they think it was ok to leave my brother there.

“Seven years on we don’t know why Paul was murdered, the Gard’s don’t know either.”

“Paul was kind and considerate, he was a true friend he would try and help people. I find it incredible to think that someone felt that they had the right to take his life and to leave him lying there in that field,” added Geraldine.

“As an open case it will remain open, but we can’t have an inquest and try to move forward and pick up the pieces of our lives.

“Nobody has been brought to justice and we would ask people in Meath and Louth who may have information to please come forward.

“It wont bring Paul back, it won’t ease our pain and suffering but it will in some way help that those people responsible are brought to justice.

“Paul was a twin, he was a son and a grandson, he was a father, a brother, an uncle, to try and comprehend that you will not see him again, he won’t come through the door again is gut wrenching. To lose a child in such a horrific manner I don’t even have words to explain the pain.”