Killer Yousef Palani being ‘barrier-handled’ after ‘berserk attack’ on prison officer

Sources have confirmed the officer, who was assaulted when he requested that Palani exit an exercise yard in the prison on Wednesday, had to be hospitalised in the wake of the attack.

Evil Palani — who murdered two men in Sligo in 2022 and seriously assaulted a third man during a four-day murder spree — had been moved to maximum security Portlaoise after clocking up a series of disciplinary offences and coming under threat from violent criminals in Mountjoy.

The murderer was battered by deranged killer Stephen Penrose and three others in a cell in B base of Mountjoy Prison in March this year.

“Palani was on a restricted regime for his own protection since coming to Portlaoise,” a source told the Sunday World.

“He refused to come in from the exercise after his time was up on Wednesday and an officer went out to reason with him and convince him to go back to his cell.

“But instead of complying, Palani went berserk when told his time was up and carried out a completely unprovoked attack on the officer.

“He was ultimately restrained but not before inflicting injuries on the officer.

“The officer had to be hospitalised.”

The source said a decision had now been made that Palani is to be barrier-handled on all occasions when he leaves his cell.

This involves prison officers suiting up in the equivalent of riot gear and holding shields when he is being escorted from one area of the prison to another.

“The number of disciplinary offences Palani has clocked up is now running into double figures,” the source said.

“The majority of these were for trashing his cell in Mountjoy, but he has also been P19’d {disciplinary sanction) on a number of occasions for threatening staff.

“What happened on Wednesday shows that these are not just threats and he is capable of inflicting injury on officers when the opportunity arises.

“For that reason, he will be barrier handled going forward.”

In October last year, Palani, who targeted his victims due to “hostility and prejudice” towards gay men, was sentenced to life imprisonment

The 24-year-old murdered two men and seriously assaulted a third during a four-day spree of violence in Sligo town.

Gardaí believe he would have continued to kill gay men if he had not been arrested.

Palani tracked the men down using an LGBT dating app before stabbing them to death in their homes and mutilating their bodies.

The attacks triggered a massive garda manhunt, with armed officers visiting the homes of gay men around the town as they tried to track down Palani.

With the assistance of witnesses, including Anthony Burke, a local man who had survived Palani’s first attack, gardaí traced the killer to his home and arrested him.

Palani, last of Markievicz Heights in Sligo, pleaded guilty to the murder of Aidan Moffitt at Cartron Heights in Sligo on April 10, 2022, and the murder of Michael Snee at City View, Connaughton Road, Sligo, on April 12, 2022.

He further pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to Mr Burke at Cleveragh Road in Sligo on April 9, 2022.

In the case of Mr Moffit, he cut his victim’s head off and placed it on the bed facing the door.

In interview, Palani at first denied any involvement but went on to make full admissions.

He claimed he heard voices which told him to carry out the attacks.

Palani, who is originally from Iraq and came to Ireland with his family when he was six years old, repeatedly insisted he was not gay, despite forensic evidence showing he engaged in sexual activity with at least one victim.

Det Garda Conor Jordan told Lorcan Staines, prosecuting, that gardaí believe Palani carried out the attacks due to “hostility and prejudice” against gay men.

He said there was no evidence to support Palani’s claim of mental health issues and believed his account of hearing voices may have been exaggerated or fabricated entirely.

The court also heard that while Palani told gardaí that his religion forbids homosexuality, investigators were satisfied that he was not radicalised.

Palani told gardaí in interviews that Muslims could not be homosexual and vehemently denied being gay, despite using gay dating apps.

Det Garda Jordan said there was no evidence Palani, who is a Muslim, was radicalised “despite some suggestions to the contrary”.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Burke said that on the night of the incident he thought he was meeting someone to have “an intimate moment with”.

“I didn’t realise I was going to meet a coward and a monster that would destroy my life. My heart goes out to Aidan and Michael’s families for the suffering they have to endure,” he added.

Mr Burke said he has been very distressed since the attack, was in “fierce pain” at the time and had suffered insomnia.