Court told of regular assaults on staff working in care home

Newtown House in Co Wicklow was not suitable for the detention of seriously disturbed children, with staff there overworked and serious assaults a regular occurrence, the High Court heard yesterday.

On one occasion, 15-year-old Kim O'Donovan had embedded a pen in a staff member's face and he had been out of work for two months, Ms Sheelagh Murtagh, manager of Newtown House, said in evidence.

Ms Murtagh said staffing the unit had been a most difficult task. Staff numbers had fallen because of assaults, sickness and resignations. The job was onerous, the hours were long, the pay was not as attractive as that available to people working for State-run residential units and there were problems with backup and training.

Ms Murtagh said that between May 1999 and October 2000 she had been assaulted four times. Her lip was cut, she sustained a black eye and a dislocated shoulder and had had a lot of hair removed. Other members of staff had suffered more serious assaults.

It was clear that Newtown House was not suitable for certain children, Ms Murtagh added, but there was no viable alternative. Despite the problems and the tragedy of the Kim O'Donovan case, the unit had had remarkable success with some children.

Yesterday was the third day of the inquiry by Mr Justice Kelly into the circumstances surrounding the escape on July 28th, 2000, of Kim O'Donovan, who was in the care of Newtown House, and what steps were taken to find her before she was found dead of a heroin overdose in a Dublin city B & B on August 24th, 2000.

Ms Murtagh said it appeared she had not told gardai searching for Kim O'Donovan that the girl had stated in a letter to Mr Justice Kelly that she was staying in a B & B paid for by an unnamed journalist.

Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, for the East Coast Area Health Board, which runs Newtown House, said he believed no health board officer sent the letter to gardai, nor would they have thought it appropriate to do so.

Ms Murtagh said contact between staff of Newtown House and gardai was made 91 times from Kim O'Donovan's disappearance to August 11th, 2000. The notes regarding these contacts did not indicate that the girl's assertion that she was staying in a B & B was raised with gardai, but the notes did not detail all the contacts.

The notes indicated that Ms Murtagh's first contact with gardai regarding Kim O'Donovan was on August 12th, 2000, and two more contacts were made on August 23rd, 2000. She believed other contacts were made, but she was not sure when.

Ms Murtagh said it was her understanding that gardai were invited to a case conference in relation to Kim O'Donovan on August 11th, 2000. The notes of that conference referred to the girl's letter to Mr Justice Kelly and to a phone call from her saying she had been stopped by gardai.

Mr Justice Kelly asked why no one had thought to pick up the phone and ask the police if they planned to attend and, if not, why not. Ms Murtagh agreed that it seemed extraordinary that no one appeared to have told gardai that Kim O'Donovan was staying in a B & B.

Mr Donal McCormack, manager of Newtown House from 1996 to May 2000, said the unit was opened in response to a 1995 High Court decision that children had a constitutional entitlement to appropriate care and accommodation. No legislation or guidelines followed that decision. Mr Justice Kelly remarked that, six years later, there was still no such legislation.

Mr McCormack said that Newtown House was not designed to be secure. It was an interim measure prior to the opening of the Ballydowd special care unit.

He said he could not recall a letter by Kim O'Donovan to Mr Justice Kelly in April 2000 ever having been brought to his attention. He was manager of the unit at the time, but was on leave. He would have considered it proper to deliver the letter unopened to the judge.

The inquiry continues today.