Judge criticises board over death of girl

A High Court judge has criticised the East Coast Area Health Board's handling of some matters related to the case of Kim O'Donovan (15), a disturbed girl who was found dead almost a month after she failed to return to a care unit.

Kim, who was in the care of the board, was found dead of a heroin overdose in a Dublin city centre bed-and-breakfast premises on August 24th, 2000.

Mr Justice Kelly was giving a 28-page ruling on an unprecedented High Court inquiry into the circumstances under which Kim left health board care on July 28th, 2000 and the steps taken to find her.

The judge found there was a "serious failure" by the ECAHB to tell the garda∅ Kim had said in a letter, received by the judge on July 29th, 2000, that she was staying in B and B accommodation which she alleged was being paid for by a journalist.

The judge said it was "remarkable" the board's solicitors never gave the letter to the garda∅.

Details of the letter, particularly Kim's assertion about the B and B, were published in three national newspapers on August 1st, 2000 after the judge read extracts from it in court the previous day but the garda∅ were unaware of the B and B reference until the High Court inquiry last March, the judge noted. This was "astonishing". If the information had been given to the Garda, it would have been taken into account and might have narrowed the search for Kim, the judge said. "It is a matter of conjecture whether it would ultimately have made any difference. But it might have." There appeared to be no proper system in place to ensure this did not happen again.

He noted Kim also phoned Newtown House, Co Wicklow, on August 10th, 2000 and told a care worker she was staying in a B and B paid for by "someone". That information was logged but did not appear to go any further.

Mr Justice Kelly stressed the inquiry was "very limited" and did not, for example, deal with complaints made by Kim about the quality of care she had received at Newtown House. "Wider questions which may require to be answered are not for this court," he said.

The judge found no legitimate criticism could be levied at the Garda in relation to its efforts to locate Kim.

However, there was criticism to be levied at the ECAHB. The High Court was never told, but should have been, of the proposal to allow Kim leave Newtown to work part-time and unsupervised by health board staff.

Kim should not have been allowed take up that employment without court permission, he said. The arrangement had some shortcomings and should have been governed by written directions.

In future, he would require undertakings that when an order for a child's detention was in place, it should not be departed from to facilitate unsupervised off-campus trips without court leave.

He also found that, in the absence of a Garda representative, the holding of a case conference regarding Kim on August 11th, 2000, 13 days before she was found dead, was a waste of time and resources.

He noted that the garda∅ had said they never received a letter inviting them to that conference. The failure to inform the garda∅ of what happened at the conference was "mystifying".

The judge concluded his ruling with a number of recommendations and requirements, including that health boards appoint liaison officers to deal specifically with the cases of children who abscond. He noted the garda∅ had already taken this step.

In future cases he would also require undertakings from the health boards that a liaison officer would be appointed should a child abscond.

Mr Justice Kelly noted the health board acknowledged that its failure to forward another letter from Kim to the judge, dated April 6th, 2000, was a serious infringement of her rights.

Any incarcerated person must have access to the High Court by correspondence without hindrance.

However, it would be unfair to regard his remarks as a criticism of staff at Newtown House. The failure to send the letter was not a deliberate violation of Kim's rights but arose "through a mixture of ignorance and poor training".