Jury acquits Barbie Kardashian on all charges, including alleged threats to kill

Transgender woman Barbie Kardashian, who admitted in court to issuing threats to rape and torture a female prisoner, and threats to sexually assault a female prison officer at Limerick prison, was acquitted Friday of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to the two women.

On Friday, the accused, Barbie Kardashian, told her trial she had wanted to “torture” and “electrocute” the genitals of female prisoner, Tegan McGhee, using an “electric rod”, when she threatened to rape her on February 25, 2023.

Kardashian, who denied one count of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Ms McGhee, intending that she would believe the threat would be carried out, was found “not guilty” by a jury of seven women and five men following a four-day trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.

READ MORE:Barbie Kardashian trial gets under way as transgender woman accused of kill threats in Limerick Prison

READ MORE:Barbie Kardashian accused of threatening to kill or harm two women in Limerick city

Kardashian had told the trial she had also wanted to rape prison officer Roisin Linnane, but that this would not have been a realistic threat, as she was locked up alone in her cell for 22 hours a day, and that she threatened Ms Linnane that she would “molest” and “sexually assault her by “putting my hands between her legs and grabbing her vagina” as this would have been a “realistic” threat.

The jury found Kardashian “not guilty” of three counts of threatening to kill or cause serous harm to Ms Linnane, intending her to believe the threat would be carried out. It took the jury two hours and 35 minutes to reach verdicts in respect of three of the counts counts. Earlier in the trial, judge Colin Daly had directed the jury to find Kardashian “not guilty” of one of the counts against Ms Linnane.

Kardashian looked visibly surprised after the “not guilty” verdicts were read out and, addressing her barrister Andrew Sexton SC, instructed by Yvonne Quinn, BL, and solicitor Julianne Kiely, Kardashian enquired, “on all three counts?” Kardashian broadly smiled and whispered “Yes...I’m so happy”.

Earlier on Friday, Kardashian gave direct evidence in court that she had wanted to make Ms McGhee and Ms Linnane “suffer” because she was upset and angry after rumours had circulated around the female wing of the prison that she had been leaving the showers dirty with body hair. Kardashian claimed Ms Linnane had been “openly intimidating” her on the prison landing and scowled her for taking from the prison canteen and she was annoyed at the prison officer.

Ms Linnane denied this when she gave evidence and said she had been “terrified” of Kardashian after she threatened her. Tegan McGhee told the trial that she had accused Kardashian of leaving the showers dirty and that Kardashian in turn threatened to rape her. Ms McGhee said she had the job of cleaning the showers and she had to use “a hose” a number of times to remove “body hair” from the showers.

Kardashian, who was not allowed mix with other prisoners on the female wing, told the trial she used the showers every day and left them clean. She said hygiene was “very important to her and she “didn’t want to smell”. Answering defence barrister Andrew Sexton, Kardashian described being “upset and disappointed” at the rumours that were circulating about her among the female prisoners.

Under cross examination from prosecution counsel John O’Sullivan, Kardashian admitted threatening to rape Ms McGhee with an object so that the extent of Ms McGhee’s injuries would be that “she would not be able to have children”. Mr O’Sullivan asked Kardashian “what object” would be used to rape Ms McGhee.

“I wanted to use an electric rod, but that wasn’t available to me. I remember thinking I wanted to use the handle of a sweeping brush or a mop. I wanted to torture her (Ms McGhee) sexually, I wanted to sexually electrocute her genitalia,” Kardashian replied. When asked why use the word “object” in the rape threat, Kardashian replied: “Because I am a woman, and women use objects, that’s why I said ‘object’.”

Kardashian added: “I hate having male genitalia and I would use an object to commit rape. If a woman wants to rape, that’s how I would commit rape.” When Mr O’Sullivan put it to Kardashian that the trial heard it was only females that the accused had threatened, Kardashian replied: “I have threatened to sexually assault males since these incidents.”

Kardashian agreed with Mr O’Sullivan that “you snapped” in a fit of rage after rumours had circulated “for months” about her and the showers. Kardashian admitted in court to making a threat to rape Ms McGhee and making threats to “sexually assault” or “molest” Ms Linnane. “I wanted to punish them for life for making false allegations about me... I wanted revenge,” Kardashian said.

Mr O’Sullivan asked Kardashian if the accused had stated in her direct evidence “for life”, to which Kardashian replied: “Yes, for life”. Mr O’Sullivan asked if Kardashian wanted to inflict “life-changing injuries” on the two alleged victims, to which Kardashian replied: “That’s correct.”

Mr O’Sullivan put it to Kardashian that “you claim to be a woman yourself” but that the accused wanted to make the women suffer sexually. Kardashian replied: “Yes, I wanted to make them suffer.”

Kardashian agreed with Mr O’Sullivan of having wanted to “torture” the two alleged victims and agreed they had “deserved it”. “Yes, but the electric rod wasn’t available to me. It applied more to Roisin (Linnane) as I hated her more than Tegan,” Kardashian said.

Kardashian, who had told Gardaí that she had been raped and sexually assaulted a number of times as a child, gave evidence that she had wanted to make “a very extreme threat” against Ms Linnane in order “to make her suffer”. Kardashian agreed with Mr O’Sullivan that “to Tegan McGhee and Roisin Linnane, you are a male with male genitalia”, but told the court “I am a woman”. Kardashian, answering Mr O’Sullivan, agreed with him that “unfortunately I do” have male genitalia.

Mr O’Sullivan asked Kardashian “did you intend” Tegan McGhee to believe the rape threat was real, to which Kardashian replied: “Yes, I wanted her to suffer. I felt she wronged me and I wanted revenge”. “The threats of rape were made to Tegan, not to Roisin Linnane. I didn’t threaten (Ms Linnane) rape, I threatened sexual assault,” said Kardashian.

Kardashian, who the court heard was born a male named Gabriel Alejandro Gentile and who had legally changed name by deed-poll to Barbie Kardashian and had received a certificate from the State recognising her as female in 2020, agreed with Mr O’Sullivan that a threat of rape was “possibly the worst thing to do to a woman”. “Or a man” Kardashian went on.

“I wanted to use an object to rape her (Ms Linnane) but that wouldn't have been realistic, so I said I wanted to grab her vagina, as that would have been realistic,” Kardashian said. “I wanted her (Ms Linnane) to suffer as a result of being molested. What I said was, I was going to put my hands between her legs and grab her vagina. To molest her was a realistic threat and I wanted her to believe the threat. I remember saying to her that I was going to molest her and sexually assault her, like my other victims.”

Aiden O’Meara, a Prison Officer at Limerick Prison, gave evidence earlier that he heard Kardashian threaten to “rape” and “kill” Ms McGhee. “I have no doubt the threat was made with malice and forethought,” Mr O’Meara said.

What this jury was not told was that Kardashian was jailed for five and half years with the final 12 months suspended in March 2023, after being convicted by a jury of seven counts of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to her mother.

A four-day trial in May 2023 heard Kardashian had threatened to torture, rape and murder the victim. Gardaí told the trial that they had “grave concerns” about Kardashian’s “motivation to carry out the threats”.

Detective Garda Niall Fitzgerald, Roxboro Road Garda station, Limerick, gave evidence then, that Gardaí believed Kardashian continued to “pose a significant threat to those she has made threats towards, as well as to the wider public”.

Kardashian, originally from Co Meath, had 15 previous convictions, including for threats to kill, sexual assault, assault causing harm, assault, and causing criminal damage to property, it was then heard. The 2023 court heard Kardashian was then on a waiting list to be assessed for “appropriate medical treatment” in respect of gender.

The 2023 court heard Kardashian was placed in State care from the age of nine, and, on foot of a High Court order, Kardashian was, aged 12, placed in Coovagh House, a specialist residential facility for children with high-risk behaviours. The 2023 trial jury found Kardashian not guilty of four counts of threatening to kill or cause serious harm to Michael Mannix, a member of staff at Coovagh House.

Kardashian’s barrister then, Mark Nicholas, SC, said Mr Mannix gave evidence during the trial that he did not take the threats seriously, and he did not seek to be removed from Kardashian’s care roster. Kardashian thanked the trial judge, Tom O’Donnell, before being led away to the women’s section of Limerick Prison to serve the sentence.

Judge O’Donnell ordered that Kardashian be of good behaviour for two years or potentially have the suspended part of the sentence activated.

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