No satisfactory explanation - Rabbitte

Political reaction: The Report of the Commission of Investigation into the Dean Lyons case has failed to provide a satisfactory explanation as to how Mr Lyons could possibly have provided such a detailed confession to a murder that he could not have committed, Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said last night.

In a statement Mr Rabbitte said that while he accepted that the commission had conducted its investigation in a thorough and diligent manner, its central conclusion beggared belief.

"I think the public will find it difficult to accept that a person who is described in the report as being a heroin addict and 'borderline mentally handicapped' who had attended a special school could have outwitted three teams of experienced Garda interrogators and was able to deduce details that could only have been known to the killer from questions put to him.

"It is quite clear from Mr Birmingham's report that Dean Lyons was a very unstable and disturbed young man who should never have been charged, and that the DPP would not have agreed to charges being laid had the DPP's office been made aware of the reservations expressed by at least one of the interrogation team."

What was more difficult to understand was how gardaí continued to insist that there was a strong case against Mr Lyons even after another man had provided a detailed confession to having carried out the killing.

"Notwithstanding its failure to adequately answer the key question, this is yet another report that has made serious criticisms of the manner in which the gardaí carried out their duties, including the failure to keep adequate notes and use of leading questions.

"It provides yet more evidence for the need for far more fundamental reform of the Garda than either the Minister or the commissioner have shown any appetite for so far."

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said he was sending a copy of the report to the Garda Commissioner and to the expert group established in the light of concerns arising from the Lyons case.

"The group will be reporting to me, I expect, before the end of the year on the adequacy of Garda training, protocols, regulations and procedures in assessing the fitness of persons to be interviewed and on the recording of any bona fide reservations of an individual member of a Garda investigation team as to the truthfulness or accuracy of self-incriminating statements. I have already stated publicly that I will publish their report."

Mr McDowell said he hoped the report of the commission of investigation would be of some comfort to the family of Mr Lyons and to the families of the murder victims.

He said the report was the first to be published following the establishment of the new-style commission of investigation system. This "was intended to enhance in a significant way the State's ability to conduct formal independent inquiries in a cost-effective and timely manner".

The Minister said the commission's work had been completed in less than six months at a cost of less than €1 million.