A court order preventing the media from identifying a murderer and his 11-year-old victim has been lifted.
In 2019, Patrick Dillon, of Dalgaish Park, Moyross, Limerick, stabbed his nephew Brooklyn Colbert to death.
The 28-year-old was jailed in February, but he couldn't be identified at the time because of Section 252 of the Children Act.
Changes to the law took effect last week and with the order now lifted, Brooklyn's mother, Sonia Aylmer is now free to publicly talk about her son.
Sonia was part of the campaign to have Section 252 amended so today is a special day for her.
She’s thrilled that she can finally tell the world about her amazing boy.
She said: “Brooklyn was always a happy child, even as a baby. If you met Brooklyn once, you’d always remember him. He just had that aura about him. He was a little loveable character.
“He was really affectionate. He loved animals and cuddles and he was very soft and very funny from when we can remember. From when he could talk, he was dancing around the house. He had his own style of dancing.
“Everybody just had a little spark for him.”
Sonia Aylmer with her son Brooklyn Colbert. Image: Sonia AylmerSonia doesn’t think about her boy’s killer. Her thoughts are always focused on Brooklyn and the life they had together.
That said, she thought he should have been named and shamed for what he did.
She said: “I think that it’s only right that he be publicly named for what he has done and that people should know him for what he is, and his face should be out there for the world to see."
Sonia played a huge role in keeping the pressure on for changes to be made to Section 252.
She said she’s very grateful to the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, for getting it over the line so quickly.
She said: “I feel proud, and I feel I did Brooklyn proud. I’d like to thank the Minister for replying back to me so quickly.
“It was done very fast. I’m grateful because it’s a big, big weight lifted off. I can now publicly speak about Brooklyn and not have to watch what I put on Facebook. there’s so much that can be done in his memory.”
