Dublin 4 killer’s freedom of the city
First picture since his release shows Finn Colclough enjoying a cycle just six years since he killed teenager
THIS is the first picture of Finn Colclough – dubbed the D4 killer – enjoying his freedom following his release from prison last week.
The Irish Mail on Sunday spotted the son of celebrity chef Alix Gardner and businessman John Colclough leaving his upmarket Waterloo Road home on a Dublinbikes bicycle this week.
Aged just 25, and with his whole life in front of him, Colclough was clearly enjoying his freedom after serving just six years of a 10-year sentence, reduced on appeal to eight years, for the fatal stabbing of Seán Nolan in 2007.
Without seemingly a care in the world, he cycled towards Baggot Street wearing a Superman cap.
The young killer stopped to chat on his mobile phone and smiled when approached by the MoS. He answered ‘yes’ when called by name but his smile vanished and he quickly cycled off when the MoS reporter identified herself.
Meanwhile, across town, in a peaceful tree-lined middle-class estate, Seán Nolan’s mother, father, sister and two brothers were struggling to come to terms with his killer’s release.
His mother, Charlotte, took to his Facebook memorial page to thank her friends and family for their encouragement.
‘Thank you all for your support,’ she wrote on the day of Colclough’s release on Halloween.
‘Seán will always be in our hearts and minds and as long as that is the case, he will never be gone from us. Watch over us all, Seán. Never forgotten and always loved.’
His friends, meanwhile, berated the legal system for setting his killer free.
One said: ‘Thinking of you today, Seán. My heart goes out to your family and everyone who loved you. You’re worth a lot more than that low-life and that excuse of a sentence that he got and nobody’s going to forget that.
Another said: ‘Thinking of all Seán’s family and friends today and struggling to come to terms with the Irish justice system that thinks six years is a fair sentence for taking an innocent life.’
Colclough, who was 18 when he killed Seán on May 26, 2007, was convicted of manslaughter after a nine-day trial in October, 2008. The court heard that Seán and two friends had been in the Waterloo Road area of Ballsbridge. They were celebrating after their graduation from St Joseph’s CBS in Fairview.
They met Colclough, who was out walking with some friends after spending the evening at a 21st birthday party, and words were exchanged. Colclough had been drinking and had smoked a joint with a friend on his return to the family home in Waterloo Road.
He became agitated that Seán and his friends were not moving away from outside his house. He grabbed two knives from his mother’s kitchen and ran out. The youth plunged both knives into an unprepared Seán, causing a 17cm deep wound to his chest. Early last month, Colclough was moved out of Shelton Abbey – an open prison – and back to the stricter Wheatfield Prison after he returned from day release with a black eye.
Proving he was still capable of
‘Violent criminals should not be in open prison’
becoming embroiled in violence, he returned to the jail with a black eye and several cuts to his face.
He made an excuse that he had had a row with a friend but under his release conditions he was not supposed to be associating with undesirable individuals and was meant to stay at home.
Mrs Nolan has always been critical of the sentence Colclough received.
Earlier t---his year, she said: ‘He got 10 years in 2008 with two years suspended on appeal, so that’s eight years and with 25% remission, that’s six years so he’s due out this October.
‘I’m not happy with the fact that he’s in an open prison. I’ve always said that. I think it’s outrageous.
‘I don’t think anybody who’s guilty of a violent offence should be allowed in an open prison.’
She added: ‘I’m very unhappy with the situation. I don’t think he should have been allowed into an open prison, certainly not that early into his sentence.
‘He’s there at least a year and a half. I wrote to the Minister for Justice.’
The grieving mother last saw her son wearing a large smile after graduating from school.
She posted on Facebook: ‘My last memory of him is him leaving the Scoil hall, having kissed him good bye. He was happy and smiling. I treasure that memory in my heart always.’