Gardai have reacted furiously over this thug walking free – just 45 days after he was caged for years for a brutal attack on a member of the force.
Gavin Quinn was released from prison on Wednesday afternoon – and celebrated his freedom with members of his family. His release came despite him being given a two and a half year jail term for the shocking attack on Garda Alan Murphy in which the officer thought he was going to die.
Sources said gardai in Dublin have been left infuriated by his release, and The Star has also established that Garda Murphy had no idea that Quinn (28) was a free man – until a colleague told him late on Wednesday night. “It is an absolute disgrace that Quinn is out so soon,” one of Gda Murphy’s colleagues said last night.
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“How can you be involved in such a serious incident and then walk so soon?” And another source revealed that Gda Murphy, from Kilmainham Station in south central Dublin, was only told of Quinn’s hours after he walked free from Mountjoy Prison.
Officers only learned Quinn was free when he was spotted in the Drimnagh area of south Dublin. Quinn was caged on July 11 for 30 months over the March 2020 attack on Gda Murphy – that saw his brother Lee caged for six years.
But because Gavin, of Tyrone Place in Inchicore, has been in custody since the attack and had the standard 25 per remission applied to his sentence he was able to walk free on Wednesday. His brother Lee, 27, of Keeper Road, Drimnagh, Dublin will walk free in mid-2025.
The body that represents rank and file gardai previously said it was dismayed at the sentences handed down to the pair. “We are disappointed and dismayed by the sentences handed down,” Garda Representative Association interim General Secretary Philip McAnenly said shortly after the sentencing.
“The GRA have long called for both mandatory sentencing for all attacks on frontline emergency workers, but also a fair and appropriate punishment for those convicted of such offences. This incident has had a profound impact on Garda Murphy and his colleagues.
“While we are disappointed and dismayed by the sentences handed down we remain steadfast in ensuring Garda Murphy and his colleagues receive the necessary support in their recovery and will continue to support all our members who have endured such senseless attacks.” Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jailed the men earlier after it heard they tried to “butcher” the Garda “like an animal” in south central Dublin just over two years ago.
During the incident, Gavin pinned Gda Murphy to the ground as his younger brother Lee tried to stab the uniformed officer in the eye with a six-inch kitchen knife and later slashed him across the head. Gavin later pleaded guilty to assaulting a peace officer in the execution of his duty, contrary to Section 19(1) of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, at St Vincent’s Street West, Inchicore, Dublin 8, on March 30, 2020.
Lee pleaded guilty to attempting to cause serious harm to Gda Murphy on the same date at the same location. Both men had originally been due to stand trial for Gda Murphy’s attempted murder, and a jury had been sworn in.
But they were re-arraigned at the Central Criminal Court on March 1 after the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted their guilty pleas to the lesser charges.
Justice Eileen Creedon sentenced Lee Quinn to six years in prison. In relation to Gavin, Ms Justice Creedon said that he had limited insight and awareness of the injuries to the victim and that he had a capacity for violent offending.
The judge imposed a sentence of four years imprisonment on Gavin with the final year suspended on account of his guilty plea. She further reduced the three-year sentence by six months on account that he engage with probation services.
His two-and-a-half year sentence was backdated to June 5, 2020.
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