Siobhan McLaughlin’s mother blames her daughter’s killer for her cancer

Killer Brian Kearney has been moved in recent days to a new cell which he shares with a notorious assassin

Paul Healy

09:55, 04 Mar 2026 Updated 09:55, 04 Mar 2026

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Owen McLaughlin & Deirdre McLaughlin, Parents of murder victim Siobhan Kearney(Image: Gareth Chaney/ Collins )

The mother of Siobhan McLaughlin today reveals her cancer battle, which she blames on her daughter’s killer, and her security fears if he is released.

Evil killer Brian Kearney (67), who strangled his wife Siobhan (38) to death with a wire flex at their home in Knocknashee in Goatstown in February 2006, is about to face the parole board in the coming weeks. We have also learned that he has been moved in recent days to a new cell which he shares with a notorious assassin.

Siobhan’s heartbroken mother Deirdre revealed her cancer diagnosis and said she will need security if the remorseless killer is freed. “I have cancer. I blame him. Everything was brought on from what happened to Siobhan. I think about her every day of my life,” Deirdre said.

The interview comes as we have also learned how the remorseless wife killer, who is said to be very unwell himself behind bars, was moved in the last two weeks to another landing in Dublin‘s Wheatfield Prison, where he is sharing a cell with infamous killer Bernard Dempsey. Dempsey, who had links to the Provisional IRA, is serving life in prison for the murder of James Curran (42), whom he shot dead in the Green Lizard Pub in Frances Street, Dublin, in April 2005. His trial heard that his crime was a “cold-blooded, calculated assassination-type killing.”

Siobhan McLaughlin

The pairing comes within weeks of Siobhan’s family’s scheduled meeting with the Parole Board, as they are forced to once again plead with them to keep Kearney behind bars. Siobhan’s mother Deirdre revealed that she is now suffering from cancer – and says she has never forgotten the actions of her daughter’s ruthless killer.

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“It’s getting worse over time. I’m getting older and it’s just getting worse. We just stop and think how she was robbed of this marvellous life we have. It’s all gone because he decided in a mad moment to get rid of her.

“It’s affected us so badly and he has no idea how much it has devastated us. It never goes away. I’m going up to the parole board like I did the last time. It’s very important that I see them,” she said.

The devastated mother said she intends to tell the board that if they plan on releasing the ailing killer this time, then they’d better understand how much that will impact her life. “I’ll tell them that if they intend to leave him out then they better put security at my door because I am terrified,” she said.

am terrified and I really mean that. I’m certainly afraid. I’ll never get over what he did and how he walked away from it. I’ll never forgive him for it.”

Deirdre’s daughter Brighid also spoke to this paper about the upcoming parole hearing – and how she and her siblings want to ensure that her sister’s killer remains behind bars. “The family are meeting the parole board in April. I would be concerned now that they might have some sympathy for him because he’s meant to be unwell. My mother and father are going to have to write letters again, at their age. The whole retraumatising and retriggering thing again. It shouldn’t even be a discussion at this stage,” she said.

“He gets to see our letters but we don’t get to see what he has to say. He still gets to control everything from the inside.” Kearney’s latest pending parole hearing will be his fourth since he was jailed for life in 2008. The evil killer murdered his wife because she intended to leave him. The monster strangled Siobhan in her room, then used a Dyson vacuum cleaner flex as a ligature before trying to hoist her over the ensuite door in her bedroom in an attempt to make it look like a suicide.

Their three-year-old son lay sleeping in the next room at the time and Siobhan’s body was later discovered by her family who broke into the bedroom after failing to contact her. The prosecution alleged he killed Siobhan because she was planning to leave him, something that would have placed him under severe financial pressure. Kearney was handed down a life sentence after being found guilty by a majority verdict of 11 to 1 at the Central Criminal Court.