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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Emma McMenamy

'Dangerous' inmate Barbie Kardashian to move prisons amid fear she could follow through on threats

Prison bosses are struggling to find a suitable segregation unit for dangerous transgender inmate Barbie Kardashian.

The 21-year-old was last month jailed for four-and-a-half years for threatening to rape, torture and murder her mother.

It is understood Kardashian will be moved from Limerick Prison in coming weeks because staff do not feel safe with her being housed there.

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A source said Kardashian, who was born Gabrielle Alejandro Gentile and changed her name by deed poll, is deemed too dangerous to mix and poses a serious threat to inmates and staff.

The source told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Meetings are set to take place this month to discuss a better location for Kardashian.

“She is deemed very dangerous and requires a number of prison staff to open her cell and accompany her anywhere she goes.”

Kardashian was found guilty on seven counts of threatening to kill, rape, torture or cause serious harm to her mother.

Sentencing judge Tom O’Donnell said the psychiatric reports on Kardashian made “chilling and disturbing” reading.

At a meeting with a social care manager, Kardashian said: “If I got into [my mother’s] house I would... put the knife into her body and into her genitalia.

“The thing is, I would want to prolong my mum’s suffering for as long as possible.

“I would stab her, but not in her heart or neck, I’d want to put her through lots of torture...”

Kardashian is currently housed in a cell on a landing of Limerick Prison away from most of the female prison population.

Limerick Prison taken from St Johns Cathedral (Liam Burke/Press 22)

She shares the wing with one transgender prisoner and two female child killers, none of whom are allowed to mix.

The source said: “There is a fear that she will follow through on some of the threats she has made in the past.

“Currently there is no location for transgender inmates to be housed.

“Kardashian is not allowed to mix at all and her current location in Limerick Prison is not deemed suitable.

“[The move] will have to be somewhere she is on her own and doesn’t pose a serious threat to others including staff.”

Kardashian has 16 convictions for threats to kill, sexual assault, assault causing harm, assault and criminal damage.

At her court hearing in Limerick Circuit Criminal Court gardai said they continue to have “grave concerns” that she poses a threat to “the wider public”.

The court also heard that her original name was Gabrielle Alejandro Gentile, and that she later changed her name by deed poll to Barbie Kardashian.

In 2020, Ms Kardashian was granted a gender recognition certificate by the Department of Social Protection, in recognition of her identifying as female.

The court heard Ms Kardashian is currently on a waiting list to be assessed for “appropriate medical treatment” in relation to her gender.

The Irish Prison Service told the Sunday Mirror it must accept a prisoner to whatever jail is specified by the court.

An IPS spokesperson added: “All prisoners committed are accommodated in accordance with their legal gender.

“The Irish Prison Service is currently drafting a policy for the management of transgender prisoners, to take account of evolving trends in relation to best practice in other jurisdictions in order to inform the final policy, which remains under careful consideration before finalisation.”

Last month Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said biological males should not be housed in female prisons.

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