Yousef Palani: Sligo double murderer attacked Portlaoise prison guard

Sources have confirmed that the officer, who was attacked while asking Palani to leave a prison exercise area on Wednesday, had to be hospitalized as a result of the attack.

Evil Palani – who murdered two men in Sligo in 2022 and seriously assaulted a third man during a four-day killing spree – had been transferred to Portlaoise maximum security prison after committing a series of disciplinary offences and being threatened by violent criminals in Mountjoy.

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

“Palani has been under strict probation for his own protection since his arrival in Portlaoise,” a source told Sunday World.

“After his time was up on Wednesday, he refused to come back from the exercise and an officer went out to calm him down and convince him to return to his cell.

“But instead of cooperating, Palani became enraged when told his time was up and launched a completely unprovoked attack on the officer.

“He was eventually detained, but without injuring the officer.

“The officer had to be hospitalized.”

The source said it has now been decided that Palani will have to be cordoned off every time he leaves his cell.

Prison guards wear combat gear and carry protective shields when escorting him from one prison area to another.

“The number of disciplinary offenses committed by Palani is now in double digits,” the source said.

“Most of these punishments related to the vandalism of his cell at Mountjoy, but he was also given a P19 (disciplinary punishment) on several occasions for threatening staff.

“The events of Wednesday show that these are not just threats and that he is capable of injuring police officers if the opportunity arises.

“For this reason, he will be treated with a barrier in the future.”

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

The 24-year-old murdered two men and severely beat a third during a four-day series of violence in the town of Sligo.

The Gardaí are convinced that he would have continued killing gay men if he had not been arrested.

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

The attacks sparked a major manhunt by the Garda, with armed officers searching the homes of gay men across the city in an attempt to track down Palani.

With the help of witnesses – including Anthony Burke, a local man who survived Palani’s first attack – the Gardaí were able to track the killer to his home and arrest him.

Palani, most recently 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 also pleaded guilty to causing serious injury to Mr Burke on Cleveragh Road, Sligo, on 9 April 2022.

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

In the interview, Palani initially denied any involvement, but then admitted everything.

He claimed to have heard voices ordering him to carry out the attacks.

Palani, who is originally from Iraq and came to Ireland with his family at the age of six, has repeatedly stressed that he is not gay, despite forensic evidence showing that he had engaged in sexual acts with at least one victim.

Det Garda Conor Jordan told prosecutor Lorcan Staines that the Gardaí were convinced Palani carried out the attacks because of “hostility and prejudice” towards gay men.

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

The court also heard that although Palani had told police that his religion forbade homosexuality, investigators were convinced 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 that Palani, a Muslim, had been radicalised, “despite some suggestions to the contrary”.

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

“I didn’t know I was going to meet a coward and a monster who would destroy my life. My sincere condolences go out to the families of Aidan and Michael and the suffering they have endured,” he added.

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