A boy dies after a night in Garda custody. Three years on, a full report is produced, writes Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent
The death of a 14-year-old boy is always tragic, but for parents Pat and Siobhan Rossiter, the death of their son, Brian, was not only tragic but deeply disturbing. Three years on, they are still searching for answers as to how he came to die after spending a night in a Garda station.
Brian had been arrested along with two other boys for public order offences in Mitchell Street, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, at around 9.30pm on the night of September 10th 2002, and brought to Clonmel Garda Station, where he was put in a cell on his own.
The following morning he was found unconscious in his cell and was then rushed by ambulance to St Joseph's Hospital, Clonmel, from where he was transferred to Cork University Hospital (CUH). Three days later, he died at CUH, never having regained consciousness.
"We want to know what happened Brian," says Pat Rossiter, who was called to the station when Brian was arrested. He gave consent for his son to be kept in custody for the night, in the belief that "a short sharp shock, being kept overnight, would teach him a lesson".
"I never looked to see him - they told me that he had been on a drink-and-drugs binge. I wasn't sure about the drugs, but I believed the guard that he had drink taken. I accepted in good faith from the guards that he had been blackguarding around the town."
Pat and Siobhan had separated some months previously and Brian had left Clonmel with his mother when she moved to Co Wexford, but he had returned for a few days and was staying with his sister, Sharon, in Cashel Street in the run-up to his death.
On September 8th, he was involved in an incident in Cashel Street in which he was assaulted and suffered two black eyes. He complained of headaches the following day but didn't seek medical attention for any of the injuries suffered in the assault.
These two black eyes were still evident when Brian was arrested on September 10th and the injuries are recorded on his custody sheet at Clonmel Garda Station, along with a remark that that he was "under the influence of intoxicants" and that he was "very aggressive".
Shortly after Brian's death, the Rossiters learned that one of those arrested with him - another 14-year-old - made a formal statement of complaint that he had been assaulted by a garda shortly after he was placed in a cell. The boy alleged that he was kicked by a named officer a number of times and ended up on the ground. He claimed that he later shouted to Brian in a neighbouring cell and asked him if he had been hit, and that Brian replied: "Ya, they killed me." He also said in his statement that the following morning, gardaí brought him into Brian's cell to try to wake him, but he couldn't. He said they asked him if Brian had taken any drugs and he told them that Brian had taken some alcohol and smoked two cannabis joints.
It was the discovery of the complaint by Brian's friend that he had been assaulted, and that Brian had told him that he had been assaulted, that prompted the Rossiters and their solicitor, Cian O'Carroll, to seek a report on his death from Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
In January 2004, O'Carroll wrote to McDowell, setting out in detail the evidence gathered and the family's belief that Brian's death may well have resulted from an assault by gardaí while in custody. They also sought an autopsy report from the Garda, the DPP and the Cork City Coroner, who opened the inquest into Brian's death. The Rossiters were told that because a case was pending over the assault on Brian on September 8th 2002, a Garda report could not be made available to them.
Over the next seven months, O'Carroll wrote two further letters to McDowell's office before receiving a letter in August 2004 in which the Department of Justice confirmed that McDowell had received a Garda report on the matter. However, the Minister's private secretary pointed out in that letter that "the investigation of a criminal complaint is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána and, as such, the Minister had no role or function therein".
Last Monday, following coverage of the case by Village and RTÉ's Five Seven Live, a Department of Justice spokesman told The Irish Times that McDowell had spoken to Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy about the matter and had asked for a report on it.
Yesterday, a Department of Justice spokesman confirmed to The Irish Times that the report received by McDowell in August 2004 was a brief report, but that he had on Tuesday received a full report on the case from the Garda.
The Irish Times has learned that the report received in 2004 consisted mainly of the autopsy results and that the report received on Tuesday is in fact a copy of the full Garda file on Brian's death, which was sent to the DPP.
Supt Kevin Donohoe, of the Garda Press Office, told The Irish Times that the force was prohibited from commenting on the complaints made by the Rossiter family at this stage because a prosecution is before the courts. He added that the Garda hoped to be able to respond to the Rossiters' concerns whenever those proceedings were finished, but that, allowing for the possibility of an appeal, this could take some time.
While the Rossiters were unable to obtain the autopsy report by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, their solicitor, Cian O'Carroll, was shown it by Clonmel gardaí. It showed that Brian died from bleeding between the skull and the brain lining due to blunt-force trauma to the head.
Cassidy found that Brian suffered an internal fracture of the skull, which led to bleeding inside the skull. The bleeding was slow and appears to have taken place over a few days. It was consistent with complaints of worsening headaches as pressure within the skull increased. The lack of any damage to the brain suggested that the injury was not caused by a fall to the ground from an upright position, but the internal skull fracture could have been caused by the head's forcible contact with a wall or by it being driven into another solid object.
Cassidy said that the injury to Brian's skull was rather unusual as only the inside of the skull was cracked. This may suggest that only a moderate amount of force was used, but she pointed out that it occurred at a vulnerable site.
Cassidy said the injury could have led to Brian's actions and demeanour being misconstrued as due to alcohol or drug intoxication. Blood tests carried out by staff on Brian's admission to St Joseph's Hospital showed that he was negative for alcohol and drugs.
Eight months after Brian's death, and following a Garda investigation, Noel Hannigan (25), of Cooleens Close, Clonmel, was charged with a Section 3 assault - assault causing harm to Brian Rossiter on September 8th 2002 - and returned for trial to Clonmel Circuit Court.
However, in March 2004, a Section 4 assault charge (assault causing serious harm) and a manslaughter charge were added, only for both charges to be withdrawn by the State earlier this month. No explanation was given in court by the State for the withdrawal of these charges.
The decision has puzzled Cian O'Carroll - who had initially written to the DPP expressing the family's concern that only a Section 3 assault charge was being brought.
"We say to the State: if you don't believe Noel Hannigan killed Brian Rossiter, who do you say killed him?"
Noel Hannigan's solicitor, Michael Lannigan, has hired a British expert pathologist, Dr Jan Lowe, who advised Lannigan to seek details from the State of any microscopial examination of the blood clot which led to Brian's death. This would have allowed Lowe to ascertain the age of the fatal blood clot, but no such report was available. Subsequently, the State withdrew the manslaughter charge, suggesting that the State recognised the difficulty it would have in proving a manslaughter charge.
Lannigan said yesterday that "it has always been Noel Hannigan's position that he did not kill Brian Rossiter and there is no evidence thathe killed Brian Rossiter". The assault case against Hannigan is due to go ahead in Clonmel Circuit Court on July 26th next.
Gardai in Clonmel are adamant that nothing untoward happened to Rossiter in custody and strongly reject any comparisions with the McBrearty case in Co Donegal. They deny that the matter was not properly investigated or that there was any cover-up.
"The death of any 14-year-old young fellow is horrific, but there was a full investigation and there was no assault on Brian Rossiter while in Garda custody. Brian had injuries which were clearly established in the days prior to his detention and death," says one Garda source.
While the Rossiters are hoping that the case against Hannigan will throw some light on their son's fate, they recognise that it may well take a full hearing of their civil action against the State for his wrongful death to find out exactly what happened.
"We don't relish the prospect of taking on the State in a High Court case," says Pat Rossiter. "But we are determined to see it through until we have exposed the unspeakable wrong that has been done to Brian and, by his death, to all of his family."