Tag Archives: Shane O’Farrell

82829932_036-1

Shane O’Farrell

You’ll recall the case of Shane O’Farrell.

The 23-year-old, from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, was killed in a hit-and-run by Zigimantus Gridziuska, on August 2, 2011.

Gridziuska was on bail for several offences at the time and was on suspended sentences in the Republic and the North which should have been activated prior to the incident.

He pleaded guilty to failing to stop, report or remain at the scene of the crash and he received an eight-month suspended sentence in on February 28, 2013, on condition that he leave the country within 21 days.

Judge Pat McCartan, at the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin, gave Gridziuska the choice of serving the with months or leaving the country and he chose the latter.

During the sentencing of Gridzisuka, Shane’s mother Lucia O’Farrell claims Judge McCartan asked if there was anything coming up in the pipeline for Gridziuska and that the State solicitor failed to notify the judge that – over the five months before Gridziuska’s trial – a file had been prepared in relation to insurance fraud charges against Gridziuska.

Ms O’Farrell repeatedly requested for this file to be compiled and completed so that it could be included in the proceedings of the case of dangerous driving causing death. However, it wasn’t.

On March 6, 2013 – just days after he was ordered to leave the State within 21 days – Gridziuska appeared in Carrickmacross District Court for insurance fraud and he was jailed for five months by Judge Sean MacBride in relation to three policies of insurance fraud, one of which covered the day on which Shane was killed. Judge MacBride also banned him from driving for ten years.

Further to this…

GSOC has been carrying out an investigation into Shane’s case for the past two and a half years.

On September 28, 2016, in the Dáil, Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan raised Shane’s case and said:

“If the GSOC report comes back, I will be holding her to what I believe should be an agreement that the family deserves an inquiry if the GSOC report indicates there are further matters that merit investigation.”

Further to this, Sinn Fein’s leader Gerry Adams raised Shane’s case during Leaders’ Questions in the Dail today while Shane’s Mrs O’Farrell was in the gallery watching on.

He explained the details of Shane’s case and mentioned that he had given Taoiseach Enda Kenny a file about the case – before the summer recess.

Mr Adams had the following exchange with Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Gerry Adams: “You might tell me that the Justice Minister has Shane’s case with GSOC but it’s been there four and a half years and no result yet. The case, Ceann Comhairle, is multi-dimensional, shocking and sickening at every turn, it merits a proper statutory investigation, Taoiseach. Will you commit to this please?”

Enda Kenny: “I recall when this accident happened, Deputy Adams. Nothing that I can say or do will bring back Shane O’Farrell and I’m happy to see his mother [Lucia O’Farrell] in the gallery today. I’ve read the file that you gave me. I’ve read the other extensive files that exist in this case. I am aware that there is a civic action against the State and that GSOC have been carrying out an investigation on this. I feel that, that I would like to meet Mrs O’Farrell and hear her story myself. And I will do so from a humanitarian point of view. There are processes that are always followed; nothing will bring back Shane O’Farrell whom I understand was a brilliant young student. So, I know the MInister for Justice answered questions on this recently, I think to Deputy [Jim] O’Callaghan and she indicated, as she had met the family herself, as indeed many have, that she would like to be in a position to have the response of GSOC and that that work was well advanced. Though, as you point out, it’s been going on for quite a while. My understanding from that is that GSOC wish to interview a number of other gardai and that the Minister would be prepared to follow through with whatever the recommendations of GSOC were. This is a very sensitive and sad situation for the O’Farrell family and I’d like to think, that the very least we can do is have every possibility examined so that Mrs O’Farrell, Shane’s mother and his sister, can be an at least, know that the situation was examined in the way that it should be. Thank you for giving me the file which I read and for your question, I’ll make arrangements to meet with Mrs O’Farrell when I have an opportunity.”

Adams: “I thank you, Taoiseach, for your response and I thank you particularly for agreeing to meet with Mrs O’Farrell. This was a young lad, as you say, he was 23, he was a brilliant student at Trinity, he was about to start work at the European Parliament and he was a fluent Irish speaker. He was a gentle, young man with a bright, bright future. And Lucia, and Jim [Shane’s father] have been robbed of their pride and joy. He was their only son. But this case goes beyond his tragic death. It reveals, in my opinion, a series of grievous flaws in the management and response by the justice agencies. There are 59 complaints with GSOC in relation to Shane’s case but nothing to show. Four and a half years later, and this delay is causing ongoing trauma to his family. And I’m sure that you agree that all citizens must have confidence in our justice systems and, of course, all systems have their failings. But we all have a duty to ensure that they are of the very highest standards. As you say, Shane O’Farrell can’t be brought back, but his family can get justice. So I thank you for your reply, I thank you for your agreement, as I’ve said, to meet with Shane’s mother. But Taoiseach, they have asked for a statutory inquiry, will you agree to that? Or, failing that, today will you agree will you make your position known on this issue after you’ve met with Mrs O’Farrell and can you do that as quickly as your busy schedule will allow?”

Kenny: “Yes, I will make my views known and I will arrange to meet Mrs O’Farrell as soon as I have an opportunity. I would say that this is one of over 200 cases where people feel very grievously hurt on a range, a very broad range of issues across many years. And a review panel was set up to look at all these cases including the tragic death of Shane and that consisted of two senior and five junior counsel who are very experienced and the recommendation that they made was to take no further action. Now, I’m not a senior counsel but my job in politics engages me with so many people. I read this file and I will meet Mrs O’Farrell and I will make my views known. I’d like to think that the GSOC inquiry is, you know, practically complete. That’s my understanding. But that’s not of any value to people who say ‘I’ve been waiting for so long without any clarity as to when I’m going to have, I’m going to have a completed document’. The Minister for Justice did say, I’d like to get that, and I’d like to, you know, decide what the best option is arising from that report. I have no input obviously into the civic action as for a person’s right to take a case against the State. But I will meet Mrs O’Farrell because I want to meet her on a humanitarian basis. This is one of a number of very tragic cases and, as I say, nothing will bring back Shane O’Farrell.”

Previously: ‘Delay, Deny, Lie, Then Cover-Up’

O’Callaghan transcript: Kildarestreet.com

Screen Shot 2016-05-27 at 13.23.50noirinnoel

82829932_036-1

From top: Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness in the Dáil yesterday; Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan and Superintendant Noel Cunningham at the Association of Garda Superintendents conference last month; and the late Shane O’Farrell

Yesterday evening.

TDs continued to make statements on the report of the Justice O’Higgins Commission of Investigation into allegations of malpractice made by Sgt Maurice McCabe.

This is what Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said…

In the workings of the Committee of Public Accounts over the past five years, one of the most impressive witnesses who came before us and the only witness who came before us in private session was Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Everything he said was supported by documentary evidence. Those who were concerned about how he might behave or what he might say during the course of that meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts were impressed afterwards by the fact that he presented well and proved anything he spoke and that the documents he presented to the committee showed us that there was, in my opinion, a lot of corruption within the force at that time.

A circular dated 4 July 2011 signed by the chief superintendent, C. M. Rooney, that went out to the Assistant Commissioners and district officers in the Cavan-Monaghan division, stated clearly that on 24 June 2011, Mr. Rooney had a meeting with Assistant Commissioner for national support services, Derek Byrne, at Monaghan Garda station.

It stated that the Assistant Commissioner informed Mr. Rooney that he had completed his investigation into complaints made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe and that the findings of the investigation were approved by the Garda Commissioner.

It stated that the investigation concluded that there was no systemic failure identified in the management and administration of Bailieborough Garda district.

It stated that a number of minor procedural issues were identified and that on further investigation at local level, no evidence was found to substantiate the alleged breach of procedure.

It stated that the assistant commissioner further concluded that there was no criminal conduct identified on the part of any member of the district force.

He stated that he would like to congratulate all members who served in Bailieborough district during the period in question and, in particular, Sergeant Gavigan, who provided leadership, enthusiasm and commitment and who partly steered the station through the crisis that had occurred.

It stated that the findings of the assistant commissioner vindicate the high standard and professionalism of the district force in Bailieborough and that he appreciated the manner in which the members of the district participating in the investigation were open and truthful in their account of the events surrounding the allegations.

It said he hoped all members and their families could put this difficult period behind them and continue to serve the public and their colleagues in an efficient and professional manner.

One has to take that letter into consideration when one reads the O’Higgins report because all of the cases mentioned by Garda McCabe, and which are mentioned in the O’Higgins report clearly contradict everything in that letter.

There is a serious conflict here; somebody is wrong. This letter was given to the assistant commissioner and each district officer in the Cavan-Monaghan division.

I gave an account of when Garda McCabe came before the Committee of Public Accounts. Every effort was made by those within the Garda Síochána at senior level to discredit Garda Maurice McCabe.

The Garda Commissioner confided in me in a car park on the Naas Road that Garda McCabe was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him.

The vile stories that circulated about Garda McCabe, which were promoted by senior officers in the Garda, were absolutely appalling. Because they attempted to discredit him, he had to bring forward various pieces of strong evidence to protect his integrity.

During the course of that time, we have to recognise that the political establishment was of absolutely no help to him.

Every effort was made to ensure he would not appear before the Committee of Public Accounts. Every effort was made to dampen down the strong evidence he put into the public domain, which he had to do to protect himself, to inform us about what was going on with penalty points and other issues.

On 17 May, the Minister for Justice and Equality answered a parliamentary question on the death of Shane O’Farrell.

His mother, Lucia O’Farrell, has been campaigning since that time to have an investigation into it. The Minister relies on the review mechanism and the findings of that mechanism which she put in place.

At that time, the result of that review mechanism was that nothing further was to be done in Lucia O’Farrell’s case. Deputy Mick Wallace and others have already mentioned the name of officer Cunningham. In view of the findings and what is going on, will the Minister now reopen the case of the death of Shane O’Farrell?

Will she find out why a garda had stopped that car one hour before and asked the driver to change with the passenger because there was no tax or insurance?

The passenger then drove the car that later killed – murdered – Shane O’Farrell.

We have to reopen that case because everything in it tells us what is wrong with the Garda and the Department of Justice and Equality. We are part of a cover-up in this House if we do not clearly demand that the case be reinvestigated.

There are similar cases, such as the Fr. Molloy case and the Mary Boyle case. Why is it that the State has to stonewall each and every one of these cases?

Why is it we have to protect those who should not be protected? In whose interest is it or what is it in the interest of?

In the interests of justice, these cases have to be examined. The Minister cannot ignore this debate. She cannot ignore the facts around the officers involved in that station relative to the Shane O’Farrell case in particular.

We cannot ignore the activities of those officers who deliberately went about to set up and discredit Sergeant Maurice McCabe. They have to be independently investigated.

It has been said they are being referred to GSOC. I heard former Chief Superintendent John O’Brien this morning on the radio, who likened an investigation by GSOC to being mauled by a dead sheep. That is what he said and that is the view of the public.

For far too long in this House and in politics we have stuck to the same old politics.

In our actions, we have protected the system when that system was delivering an injustice to individuals and families throughout the country. There have been demands for the Minister and Commissioner to resign but the culture has to be changed.

That is essentially where the problem lies. We are afraid to attempt to change that culture because of the vested interests that exist. We say that we passed the legislation on protected disclosures and that now, at this late stage, the Commissioner will do something about it.

There are individuals across every Department who are affected by bullying and harassment. Their stories are being dampened down and they are being discriminated against and sanctioned for telling the truth.

The one thing this House seems to be afraid of is the truth. We are hearing the truth from Maurice McCabe. We have heard it from the whistleblowers in the Department of Finance and AIB and from the other whistleblowers in the Garda Síochána. We have done nothing about it.

I have heard at first hand a recent case which has been sorted by the Garda where a young garda was put into a situation and had to pee in a bottle rather than leave his station because he knew he was being set up.

Is that what we stand for in this House? Is that the injustice we will allow to happen?

Kicking this can down the road will not solve this problem. It will not give us the strength of the Garda that is needed to deal with the issues of crime on Dublin streets that we see at the moment.

I agree with Paul Williams who said gardaí were lions led by donkeys. He gave descriptions of all sorts of things that are happening in Dublin about which nothing is being done. The gardaí on the beat need to be supported.

Whatever it costs the State, we need to put money and resources behind them. We need to stop bluffing and stop the politically correct contributions we are making on all these issues and start to take real, imaginative and radical steps to ensure we have an independent authority that will protect the likes of Maurice McCabe.

I received an anonymous letter from an individual asking what was written on the note that was passed on the day of the Committee of Public Accounts from the current Commissioner to the former Commissioner, Martin Callinan, before he uttered the word “disgusting”.

The writer wonders if he was prompted or encouraged to do it. It has to be asked how much does the current Commissioner know and how far did the outgoing Commissioner go to discredit Maurice McCabe? It is an appalling vista as one looks at this issue.

The Minister and Members of the House have to give leadership. There must be political leadership.

My demand is that we reopen the cases before the commission, like that of Shane O’Farrell, Mary Boyle and the others, and face the truth.

We need to protect the whistleblowers that are currently being sanctioned and treated badly. It continued after the penalty points issue. Maurice McCabe highlighted that and we did nothing about it.

Transcript via Oireachtas.ie

Previously: Unsolved Ireland

Maurice McCabe And The Plastic Rat

Shoulder To Shoulder

LuciaHusband

Lucia and Jim O’Farrell hold a picture of their late son, Shane

You may recall the death of Shane O’Farrell.

Shane, aged 23, was killed in a hit-and-run outside Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan on August 2, 2011.

The man who struck Shane was Zigimantas Gridzuiska, 39, from Lithuania. He had 42 previous convictions in three different jurisdictions and was out on bail at the time of Shane’s death.

During the sentencing of Gridzisuka, Ms O’Farrell claims Judge Pat McCartan asked if there was anything coming up in the pipeline for Gridziuska and that the State solicitor failed to notify the judge that – over the five months before Gridziuska’s trial – a file had been prepared in relation to insurance fraud charges against Gridziuska.

Gridziuska then received an eight-month suspended sentence on condition he leave Ireland.

However just days after he was ordered to leave the State, Gridziuska appeared in Carrickmacross District Court for insurance fraud and was jailed for five months by Judge Sean MacBride. This was in relation to three policies of insurance fraud, one of which covered the day on which Shane was killed.

Further to this, Shane’s mother Lucia O’Farrell sued Gridzuiska for nervous shock. She settled this afternoon.

The Irish Times reports:

She told Mr Justice Raymond Fullam joy has gone out of her life since her son died.

“I relive every minute of the day that it happened. I will never move on. My life is over,” she said.

In her High Court action, Lucia O’Farrell sued for nervous shock claiming, since the accident, she has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and a severe grief reaction including flashbacks and nightmares.

On Wednesday, her counsel Gabriel Gavigan SC said the case had settled and could be struck out. The terms of settlement are confidential.

Anthony Kidney SC, for Mr Gridzuiska, said the defendant’s legal team empathised and sympathised with the O’Farrells and had defended the case on the instruction of the insurer.

Mr Justice Fullam said it was in everyone’s best interests the case had settled and he hoped, with the trauma of the litigation, both criminal and civil, behind them, the family can face the future together and live with their great loss.

‘I lost my only son. Now I see everything as being over’ (Irish Times)

Previously: ‘Delay, Deny, Then Cover Up’

lucia

Lucia O’Farrell

Lucia O’Farrel’s  23-year-old son Shane was killed in a hit-and-run by Zigimantus Gridziuska  on August 2, 2011. Gridziuska was on bail for several offences at the time and was on suspended sentences in the Republic and the North that should have been activated prior to the incident.

Lucia has raised concerns about garda failures and serious ‘irregularities’ during Gridzuiska’s trial and is suing the Minister for Justice and the State over Shane’s death.

Lucia writes:

Our quest for justice for Shane has been hampered by the Department of Justice. They appear to have forgotten the very thing they are supposed to represent, they appear to have forgotten the very thing they are supposed to fight for: truth and justice. They appear to have forgotten the very people that they are there to serve.

Despite my correspondence with evidence of irregularities which occurred in the court in Shane’s case – which have been with the Department of Justice since before July 2013 – they have chosen to ignore it. Is this in the public interest of the people that they are there to serve? The Minister for Justice has chosen loyalty over honesty.

The ‘review panel’ which was set up by Minister Fitzgerald in July 2014 was to look at allegations of Garda failure. It was to take 8 to 12 weeks. No thought whatsoever went into this ‘review panel’ or did it?

Why was Conor Devally appointed, when they knew he defended the man who took Shane’s life? Despite Shane’s case being one of the most serious – as Shane is dead because of Garda failure – they appointed the Mr Devally as one of two senior counsels to oversee the ‘review panel’.

His appointment is unjust, there is the appearance of bias, it shows lack of independence, unfair procedure, and it is irrational and totally wrong. Minister Fitzgerald refused to remove him.

Please bear in mind that, Ms Fritzgerald has stated in the Dáil that the purpose of the two senior counsels is “to oversee the mechanism to ensure consistency of approach across all the cases” and “in addition to examining individual complaints, are required to advise the Dept generally on the management of the process, take a joint lead in allocating cases to junior counsel, and jointly oversee recommendations with a view to ensuring as far as possible a consistency of approach”.

She also stated that “counsel have to take into account whether those cases have been through due process, even if the persons involved remain unhappy with the outcome of that process.”

Naturally I have no faith in this process, it is very flawed. I have written several times asking for a list of the documents that are being reviewed by this panel. This is not even best international practice, it is just normal standard practice, yet no list has been furnished to me.

For over a year before this panel was formed, I sent documents to various state agencies and deputies who may have passed them to the Department of Justice. I have no idea on what material they are making their findings.

Documents with evidence of cover-up by the State were sent to the Dept of Justice/Attorney General. DPP, Standards in Public Office. The Irish Human Rights and Equity Commission, The Joint Justice Committee, An Toaiseach, Joan Burton, Kevin Humphreys, Eamon Gilmore, etc.

Documents with evidence of State cover-up and corruption were also sent to members of the Northern Ireland Assembly on our visit to Stormont in December 2014, also to Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland Mr David Ford whom I met with. In May 2015 similar documents were given to our MEP’s in the European Parliament in Brussels.

On July 21, 2015, I attended the 2016 MacGill Summer School for the debate entitled, The justice system – where stands reform? At question time, I addressed Shane’s horrific death and the cover-up that followed, I said to Minister Fitzgerald that we are frequently told that no one is above the law, even those appointed to uphold and administrate the law, yet she has failed to act on wrongdoing in this case, irregularities that occurred in the court to protect the gardaí in their failure.

I again asked for a Public Inquiry into his killing and the cover-up that followed. I said that I am not going away. Her reply was, ‘this case is under investigation’. Please note this was the same response from Minister Fitzgerald one year ago (July 2014) at the MacGill Summer School on a similar debate about justice.

Frances Fitzgerald has failed Shane and our family. She has failed to investigate the very serious wrongdoing by the prosecution which she has had evidence since May 2014. She is prizing loyalty over honesty.

Surely if the truth is not told in a court of law by the prosecution, this is a serious problem. I always believed evidence was all that was needed, it is not, because who do you bring it to? Very serious evidence of wrongdoing is being ignored by Frances Fitzgerald.

I will see them in Strasbourg.

Previously: Not Going Away

Shane O’Farrell on Broadsheet

LuciaHusband_82829932_036-1

Lucia and Jim O’Farrell, top, and their late son, Shane

Sunday will mark the fourth anniversary of the death of Shane O’Farrell.

Shane was killed in a hit-and-run in Carrickmacross in Co. Monaghan by Zigimantus Gridziuska, from Lithuania, on August 2, 2011.

Gridziuska was on bail for several offences at the time and was on suspended sentences in the Republic and the North that should have been activated prior to August 2, 2011.

He was stopped by the Garda Drug Squad just an hour before the hit-and-run and was allowed to continue driving despite having no tax.

Family friend Catherine Costello writes:

Shane’s loving parents Lucia and Jim and his older sisters are in a very anguished state and please ask your readers  to pray for them on Sunday. Their pain makes me ashamed to be Irish aided and abetted by sheer incompetence.

Earlier this month Lucia travelled to the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Donegal to speak to the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald about her son’s death but only managed tell her: ‘I’m not going away, you know.’

Mrs O’Farrell has begun legal action against An Garda Síochána, the Minister for Justice, and the State over Shane’s death. She is also suing the Minister, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Garda Commissioner, along with Gridziuska.

Ms O’Farrell was among a delegation of families who travelled to the European Parliament in Brussels in May, in an effort to seek justice for their dead relatives. The delegation was accompanied by former Garda John Wilson and journalist Gemma O’Doherty.

Bail reform too late for victims of 10,600 crimes (Maeve Sheehan, Sunday Independent)

Previously: Delay, Deny, Lie Then And Cover-Up

Thanks Catherine Costelloe

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 17.15.10

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 16.09.33

And earlier…

Previously: Delay, Deny Then Cover-up

LuciaHusband

Lucia and Jim O’Farrell with a picture of their late son, Shane

Lucia O’Farrell’s 23-year-old son, Shane, was killed in a hit-and-run in Carrickmacross in Co. Monaghan by Zigimantus Gridziuska, from Lithuania, on August 2, 2011.

Gridziuska was acquitted of dangerous driving causing death. He pleaded guilty to failing to stop, report or remain at the scene of the crash and he received an eight-month suspended sentence in on February 28, 2013, on condition that he leave the country within 21 days.

Judge Pat McCartan, at the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin, gave Gridziuska the choice of serving the with months or leaving the country and he chose the latter.

During the sentencing of Gridzisuka, Ms O’Farrell claims Judge McCartan asked if there was anything coming up in the pipeline for Gridziuska and that the State solicitor failed to notify the judge that – over the five months before Gridziuska’s trial – a file had been prepared in relation to insurance fraud charges against Gridziuska.

Ms O’Farrell repeatedly requested for this file to be compiled and completed so that it could be included in the proceedings of the case of dangerous driving causing death.

But it wasn’t.

On March 6, 2013 – just days after he was ordered to leave the State within 21 days – Gridziuska appeared in Carrickmacross District Court for insurance fraud and he was jailed for five months by Judge Sean MacBride in relation to three policies of insurance fraud, one of which covered the day on which Shane was killed. Judge MacBride also banned him from driving for ten years.

On February 6, 2013, Lucia O’Farrell sent a letter to Fiona Downes, prosecution solicitor of Circuit Court Section at DPP office, stating:

‘Thank you for your reply dealing with my conversation yesterday, Tue 5th February 2013. I asked if those charges of fraud relating to the insurance held by the accused could be included in the trial commencing on 11th of February 2013. Your letter states that you are waiting on the file from the Garda and therefore the decision to prosecute can not be made yet.

‘On Friday, 1st February, I was speaking to the investigating officer. He informed me that the investigation is complete except for the interview. I informed the gardaí on the 17th of September 2012 to formally request to have his insurance checked. It is now February 2013 (almost five months ago). In view that it is almost five months since I brought it to their attention, I fail to understand why there is a delay now – when we know the file is complete. This is very relevant to a charge of dangerous driving causing death. The judge should have this information. It’s not as if he is up for burglary.’

‘The gardai failed to formally request and check the accused’s insurance within the six months [of Shane’s death] and now I question who’s benefit the delay is for. I spoke with [redacted] yesterday, Tuesday, 5th [February] pm and he informed me the delay was ‘Dublin’. The DPP are informing me it’s the Garda. Which is it? And why?

‘I am confused as to why the insurance of the accused has to wait until after the trial. What is in the file that the judge will have in front of him? Will it state or imply that the accused had valid insurance? Will it state or imply that the accused’s insurance was checked and in order? Can he be charged with the fraud offence before sentencing? – so as not to mislead the court that he had valid insurance on the evening of August 2, 2011. This is the duty of the State to inform and not mislead the judge. I am formally asking you that he be charged with fraud before sentencing. Thank you again for all your assistance.”

On March 11, 2013, Ms O’Farrell wrote to Supt Gerard Russell, from Carrickmacross District Division of Cavan/Monaghan, stating:

On September 7, 2012, we brought formally to your attention requesting to have the accused’s insurance checked, for the date of August 2, 2011 when my son was murdered by a Lithuanian who was on bail at the time. We also requested the insurance details of this evil man, this was over a year after Shane was cruelly and inhumanely killed, and five months before the trial.

‘As you are aware the Gardai failed to formally request to have this insurance checked. When this was brought to your attention (by our family, one year later) it was statue barred, so therefore the accused could not be charged or convicted for not having valid insurance. The garda had failed in their duty, to Shane and to our family. We also formally asked the gardai and raised several issues on October 26, 2012 regarding the accused’s insurance. Travellers Insurance stated to me that ‘we are waiting for the gardai to formally request to have this insurance checked and this has not been done and we can’t tell the gardai how to do their job’.

‘On December 13, 2012, I wrote a four-page letter [sent by registered post] to you requesting each and every insurance policy held by the accused and each and every related insurance policy held by the accused (including current policy) to be checked since he came into the country. This letter was CCed to GSOC. We have been informed that the fraud relating to insurance policies was being checked. We were informed that this is an indictable offence, under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. We were told by you that this indictable offence would be dealt with in a circuit court in front of a judge and jury. We were also informed that the “penalty for this is five years and that the facts will speak for themselves”. Why then did you agree to have this heard in a district court? (Where you know that the maximum he would get would be six months).

‘As you are aware we asked for the insurance fraud to be included in the proceedings of the case of dangerous driving causing death of our son Shane…This was not included, as to do so would have highlighted the fact that the Gardai failed to have the insurance checked in time, within the six months (after he killed Shane).’

‘Coincidentally, Shane’s case finished on the last day of February 2013, and the file (which was over five months being prepared) was submitted the very next day. How convenient. This file on serious fraud “where all the facts will speak for themselves”, and which was five months being prepared, was submitted on March 1, 2013, to the DPP office so as to separate it from the tragic killing of Shane. It would not look good to link this serious insurance fraud with the death of Shane.’

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has ordered a panel of barristers to review Shane’s case and 220 others where alleged garda inadaquecy, competence or corruption are involved. One of the Senior Counsel overseeing the process is Conor Devally, who defended Gridziuska.

On Drivetime last night, Ms O’Farrell told Philip Boucher Hayes:

“Two weeks ago, I attended the Macgill Summer School and I listened to the debate on openness, transparency and accountability. And they’re quick to use these words, they flow off their lips – a new era and openness and transparency. And I raised a question, I raised Shane’s question about his death and his unlawful killing, and I wanted a public inquiry. I shouldn’t have to drive to Donegal, to the Glenties to get, to raise a question. I have been trying for days to ring the department but there’s nobody willing to speak. They’re not at their desk or they’re at a meeting.

“I think families have been failed hugely. I think Nigel Rodley said, very rightly, in Geneva a few weeks ago that Ireland’s answer to every scandal and when will they stop, replying to every scandal with, first, delay, then deny, then lie, then cover-up and then eventually they’re forced to throw money at it and hope it goes away. They talk about openness and transparency and accountability, they don’t mean a word of it, there’s no evidence of that.”

Meanwhile, the following is a short timeline of some of the Gridziuska’s criminal history which shows how – had his bail been revoked at numerous points – he may not have been driving the car on the day Shane died.

May 9, 2011: Gridziuska gets a four-month suspended sentence at Ardee District Court in Co. Louth for five counts of theft. The charges are in relation to him stealing five times, over five consecutive days, from Lidl. His sentence is suspended for two years. At this point, Gridziuska is already supposed to be adhering to a condition of good behaviour in relation to a case that was adjourned for a year, in Monaghan Circuit Court in January 2011.

July 6, 2011: The Garda Drugs Squad pull over Gridziuska and find on the dashboard what they believe to be the charred remains of tinfoil and heroin that somebody had been smoking. After taking the remains, Gridziuska is waved on. The car has no NCT at the time.

July 14, 2011: Gridziuska is arrested in Newry, Co Down, for three counts of theft. He pleads guilty to each count and receives a five-month sentence for each count, suspended for two years. The PSNI contact the gardaí to confirm Gridziuska’s address.  At this point Gridziuska is already on bail for theft charges in Co. Cavan and isn’t supposed to leave the jurisdiction. He is also supposed to be signing on at a garda station daily.

July 27, 2011: The charred remains are sent to a forensic lab. It’s later confirmed that the remains contained heroin.

August 2, 2011: The Garda Drugs Squad pull over the car that Gridziuska is travelling in, along with Paulius Paplauskas/Petrosas and Edgars Zelenousy, on suspicion that they had drugs in their possession. Zelenousy is driving the car when it’s pulled over. The O’Farrell family understand the gardaí asked the men to get out of the car, searched them and then got Zelenousy to switch with Gridziuska, thus resulting in Gridziuska being behind the wheel. Zelenousy has no insurance. The car is then waved on.

Later that evening, Shane O’Farrell is killed in a hit-and-run, in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, by Gridziuska.

August 3, 2011: Gridziuska is arrested and the car he was driving is found concealed in bushes.

August 4, 2011: Gridzuiska is brought to Dundalk Court for a special sitting. Gridziuska’s suspended sentences are not activated and the gardai do not object to him getting bail.

August 12, 2011: Gridziuska is found in possession of heroin.

September 15, 2011: After being arrested at Craigavon, Co. Armagh, Gridziuska is sentenced to two weeks in jail at Belfast Magistrates Court, after the pleads guilty to two counts of theft. At this point Gridziuska is supposed to be signing on at Carrickmacross Garda Station in Co. Monaghan three times a week but he isn’t missed by gardai.

GSOC are currently carrying out a public interest inquiry into the case of Shane O’Farrell.

LuciaHusband

[Lucia and Jim O’Farrell hold a picture of their late son, Shane]

You may recall the case of Shane O’Farrell who was 23 when he died in a hit-and-run outside Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan on August 2, 2011.

Yesterday Justice Minister Alan Shatter ordered the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission [GSOC] to carry out a public interest inquiry into his death.

Shane was killed by Zigimantas Gridzuiska, 39, from Lithuania. Gridzuiska, who had 40 previous convictions in three different jurisdictions and was out on bail on the night Shane died.

On Tonight With Vincent Browne, on April 3, Shane’s mother Lucia said on July 6, 2011 – three weeks before Shane’s death – that the car in which Gridzuiska was driving on the night Shane died was pulled up by members of the Drug Squad.

She said: “[Gridzuiska] was well known to them and he was found with a substance and charred tinfoil. Apparently this man snorted his heroin. He would put a lighter under the tinfoil and he snorted his heroin and instead of confiscating or seizing the car and preventing him driving, this man was allowed continue to drive and hold a driving licence.”

She also said that members of the Drugs Squad also stopped Gridzuiska just an hour before Shane was killed.

She said: “[Gridzuiska] was pulled up again an hour before he killed our son because the number was known to the Drugs Squad. He was found with two other Lithuanian heroin addicts, the driver was uninsured, they took them out and searched them, this car had no NCT certificate, it was driven by an uninsured driver and they were waved on.”

Two days after Shane’s death, Gridzuiska was brought to Dundalk Court for a special sitting. At the time he was three months into a four-month suspended sentence over a previous conviction. It’s Mrs O’Farrell’s understanding that the gardaí never informed the judge of this or asked for the judge for his suspended sentence to be activated. Mrs O’Farrell also alleges that gardaí never objected to Gridzuiska getting bail.

On Tonight with Vincent Browne, Mrs O’Farrell also alleged: “There was gross misconduct and corruption and following it to mop up, to cover up.”

Judge Pat McCartan acquitted Gridzuiska of dangerous driving causing death. He was then given the choice of eight months in prison or to leave the country within 21 days. He left.

Previously: Failure Of Duty

The Case Of Shane O’Farrell

The Thin Blue Line Updated

Blowback

Pic: Irish Independent

LuciaHusband

(Top: Lucia and Jim O’Farrell hold a picture of their late son, Shane)

Shane O’Farrell, 23, died in a hit-and-run just outside Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan on August 2, 2011. The man who struck Shane, Zigimantas Gridzuiska, 39, from Lithuania, had 42 previous convictions in three different jurisdictions and was out on bail at the time.

After he hit Shane, he drove to his friend’s house, left the car he was driving there and walked to his home where he told his wife he knocked someone down. Neither of them contacted the gardaí or emergency services, and they went to bed.

Gridzuiska pleaded guilty to failing to stop his car at the scene of the accident, failing to failing to report the accident as soon as possible to gardai, and driving a vehicle in a dangerously defective condition. Judge Pat McCartan acquitted him of dangerous driving causing death. Gridzuiska was then given the choice of eight months in prison or to leave the country within 21 days. He chose to leave.

This morning the Dáil heard a debate on the Road Traffic Bill 2013. During the debate Fianna Fáil TD Timothy Dooley proposed that the maximum jail sentence for fleeing the scene of an accident causing injury would be up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to €5,000 instead of the current six months. He also proposed that the length of time a garda can test a hit-and-run suspect for alcohol and drugs be extended from three hours to 24 hours after the incident. Mr Dooley was approached by Shane O’Farrell’s family last summer about these legislation changes. Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said he looked forward to working with Mr Dooley on the bill.

Independent TD Finian McGrath also took part in the debate and brought up the case of Shane O’Farrell. He told the Dáil how the man who knocked down Shane was stopped by gardaí just an hour before the hit-and-run.

He started off by telling how Shane’s mother Lucia came to Dublin to meet Mr McGrath a few weeks ago.

Finian McGrath: “Her beautiful son, Shane, was killed on the 2nd of August, 2011. He was a young student here in college, in Dublin, and he was hit by a hit-and-run person and killed on the side of the road, while that person was out on bail. Now (Lucia) had written to everybody, she had made her case. She had written to the Attorney General, she had written to the Minister for Justice. I actually raised their case in the Dáil and everyone basically said, ‘there was nothing that could be done about it’. And there was an example of a case. And the reason I raise this case, Cathaoirleach, and it’s because it’s very relevant. Because the family themselves feel they’re being let down by the justice system because there was a number of incidences that happened prior to Shane’s death in this hit-and-run killing. And she describes it very, very clearly, a hit-and-run murder. An hour before her son, Shane, was killed, the particular individuals were pulled up an hour earlier at a Garda checkpoint and there was no alcohol on the driver. The driver was asked to switch as he was also uninsured.This implied that an hour earlier he was alcohol free when he murdered her son, Shane. This was not a Garda checkpoint. This was an unmarked drug squad car, sitting in a ditch, that had pulled up this car as the registration was flagged on their system. No breathalyser was used, no drink test at the side of the road. They were asked then to switch the drivers and they were searched. They were waved on. [Reads letter] ‘Our family want to stand up and tell the truth but we knew that that was not allowed. Unfortunately we are law-abiding people and we expected the State to do what they are expected to do: do their job.’ This is a letter from Mrs Lucia O’Farrell, the mother of the victim of this particular case. And there are serious questions to answer in relation to this issue: what was going on in relation to these people and these people involved in her son. And she quotes in her letter as well, and I think it’s appropriate that I mention it. She says “Her lovely son Shane would frequently say ‘you’re guilty of all the wrong you do but you are guilty of all the good you don’t do as well’. And how right he is Cathaoirleach, when I listen to this debate. So what I’m saying is, you’ve the minister in the house today. I’d ask him to look at the Shane O’Farrell case, the 2nd of August, 2011, and find out what’s going on there. I’d also like, and I’ll be contacting the Minister for Justice again on this particular issue. But I’d like to ask what about Shane’s human rights? What about Shane’s constitutional rights? This case should have been about Shane, not about hiding the truth so that some people don’t get into trouble. And the particular individual in this case got off scot-free in relation to this issue.”

Meanwhile, earlier this morning Shane’s sister Gemma O’Farrell spoke with Seán O’Rourke about her brother’s case.

Gemma O’Farrell: “Shane was my only brother. He was 23. He has just finished his Masters in Law in Trinity College, and had just handed in his dissertation, it was the 2nd of August. And he was coming home, he was training for a triathlon which was to take place in a few days time. And he went out for a cycle and he didn’t come home.”

Sean O’Rourke: “A young man, with the world at his feet, clearly a bright guy academically, interested in sport if he was doing a triathlon. What happened him?”

O’Farrell: “Shane went out for a cycle. He was hit from behind by a Lithuanian national who was driving without insurance, without tax, without NCT, who was on bail at the time, who was serving a suspended sentence  both sides of the Border and had 40 convictions the night he killed Shane. He was driving at 100km per hour and hit him from behind and didn’t break. He returned back to Carrickmacross. This happened just a couple of miles outside of Carrickmacross and left his car in his friend’s house and walked back 20 minutes to where he lived, where he told his wife that he had knocked someone down and neither of them called the guards or an ambulance and they both went to bed.”

Sean O’Rourke: “How was he traced, that individual?”

O’Farrell: “The gardaí located the car the next morning and I think things unravelled a little bit from there. This gentleman was known to the guards so things kind of unravelled from there.”

O’Rourke: “And how long was Shane left there before he was found? Was he dead when he was found?”

O’Farrell: “He was. He was found a few minutes later, we believe a few minutes later. It was on the N2, outside of Carrickmacross which is a busy road so it was two or three minutes later we believe.”

O’Rourke: “And what time of the day or night was this?”

O’Farrell: “It was about 10 past 10 at night. It was the middle of the summer, it was the 2nd of August so..”

O’Rourke: “So it was bright and..”

O’Farrell: “Well it was between the lights at that stage.”

O’Rourke: “Right. And what happened then, when the matter went to court?”

O’Farrell: “When the matter went to court, this man pleaded guilty to the offences of leaving the scene of an accident. So these are the summary offences, district court offences which carry a maximum of six months, so he pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and failing to call the emergency services. And he also pleaded guilty to driving a defective vehicle on the night.”

O’Rourke: “And the question of dangerous driving was thrown out by the judge, was it?”

O’Farrell: “He was charged with dangerous driving causing death which he was acquitted of by Judge McCartan. The difficulty for my experience, now going through dangerous driving causing death is it’s, as I see it, it’s impossible to show that someone was driving dangerously and prove that beyond a reasonable doubt in the case of a hit-and-run because the vast majority of the time with hit-and-runs there are no witnesses to an accident. So you’re never going to be able to show that the individual was driving dangerously. So there was a lack of evidence and on that basis, the judge acquitted this man.”

O’Rourke: “So, on that particular charge, so what was the maximum sentence that could be imposed then, for leaving the scene of the accident?”

O’Farrell: “The maximum sentence is six months that can be imposed.”

O’Rourke: “But, instead of which, he was given another option?”

O’Farrell: “Yes. So the judge imposed a sentence of eight months, four months for leaving the scene and four months for failing to call the emergency services. So he gave him the option of either serving an eight-month sentence or returning to Lithuania and he chose the latter.”

O’Rourke: “And this was someone who was an acknowledged heroin user, there was no question of him being tested for alcohol or being above the limit because, of what, a time-lapse?”

O’Farrell: “The law, as it stands at the moment, the gardaí only have a three-hour window in which to test someone for alcohol or drugs and this individual wasn’t, didn’t present to the garda station for over 18 hours later so he wasn’t able to be tested for anything when he was in the garda station.”

O’Rourke: “Clearly you weren’t happy with the outcome of this. You lost your only brother, a young man of 23. What prompted you then to take action and say right this isn’t good enough, we need to have a change of the law?”

O’Farrell: “So, last August 2012, so before the case actually came to trial, I approached Fianna Fáil and I raised a number of issues with them. This was one of them. And they really took it on board that this was a loophole in the law and that this was something that could be addressed and a bill was drafted to which was then launched last May by Deputy Timmy Dooley, addressing the law as it stands at the moment. So, while at then moment, it’s a six-month sentence it’s dealt with in the District Court so whether it’s property damage or you cause a fatality, six months, there’s no distinction between the two. The Bill proposes to introduce a maximum sentence of 10 years which is in line with other jurisdictions, so where you cause a fatality, a maximum sentence of 10 years may be imposed.”

Full interview here.

Previously: Meanwhile, At INM

Related: Grieving mum of hit-and-run victim claims system of justice failed son (Allison Bray, Irish Independent)

Pic: Independent.ie