Teen’s harrowing final words to his mum as he was tortured and hacked to death | World | News

A 17-year-old who was kidnapped and dismembered left a haunting final message for his mum before his death in a brutal gangland murder.

The barbaric killing of Keane Mulready-Woods in 2020 sent shockwaves across Ireland. The teenager, embroiled in a drug feud in the town of Drogheda, was enticed to a house on January 12 where he was tortured and beheaded.

His limbs were thrown from a car in a sports bag onto a footpath in the town of Moatview. His head, hands and feet were later discovered in a burnt out car in Dublin.

Keane’s murder ignited a series of revenge attacks – culminating in the murder of prime suspect Robbie Lawlor, who was shot dead as he collected a drug debt.

Before he vanished, Keane rang his mum, telling her he’d be home late and asking her to leave money out for a taxi. Keane, who was enlisted as a drugs runner for a local gang, was under a curfew to be home before dark and had been following the rules, according to the Irish Independent, reports <a href=”https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/chilling-last-message-boy-17-36235339″ rel=”Follow” target=”_self”>the Mirror</a>.

At the time of his death, he was on licence after being convicted of intimidating a local mum over the drug debts to the gang accumulated by her child. Lawlor allegedly killed Keane as he believed the teen was involved in the murder of his brother-in-law Richie Carberry at his house in November 2019.

Garda suspect Lawlor escalated to torturing the teenager, having initially claimed he would merely administer a “punishment beating” over a minor drug debt. An insider revealed to the Irish Sun: “Lawlor was obsessed with Mulready-Woods and was determined to take his life because he was convinced he played a major role in Carberry’s death.

“He took his propensity for violence to another level when he dismembered the teenager’s remains and then taunted his enemies about it.”

The 36-year-old was linked to several murders and had hundreds of criminal convictions before he was shot dead. In December, he walked free from court after being acquitted of attempting to murder the mother of his ex-girlfriend’s new partner.

Just weeks after being acquitted of attempted murder and walking free from court, he was attacked outside a gym by a man associated with one of his alleged murder victims. Lawlor’s gym bag was stolen and his rivals posted photos of themselves wearing his flip-flops.

It is widely believed that Keane was present during the attack – and an enraged Lawlor reportedly sought revenge. One of the pictures shared after Keane’s death included the chilling caption: “Won’t be robbing a man’s flip-flops again.”

In February 2023, local criminal Paul Crosby was sentenced to 10 years in prison for facilitating the murder of Keane, and his co-accused Gerard “Rocky” Cruise received a seven-year sentence. A third man, Gerard ‘Ged’ McKenna, pleaded guilty to cleaning up and removing evidence from the scene.

In a heart-wrenching victim impact statement read out on behalf of Keane’s devastated mum Elizabeth, she said: “No one could imagine the darkness and sadistic evil in our country I can hear him calling ‘Mam, Mam’ – and the haunting nightmares live forever with us. To lose my child, my son, my baby in a most inhumane, barbaric death is shocking,” she said, adding that part of her died too. “I couldn’t protect him.”