The Department of Justice has reacted to the leaking of a preliminary report into a double murder in Grangegorman, Dublin, in 1997 by reminding those in possession of the report that they face heavy fines and a term of imprisonment if they disclose its contents.
The unusual reminder was contained in a statement issued by the department last night.
It followed newspaper articles on Sunday and yesterday relating to the findings of an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the charging of an innocent man in relation to the double murder.
Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callinan (61) were stabbed to death in their beds in March 1997 in sheltered accommodation run by St Brendan's psychiatric hospital in Grangegorman, Dublin. They appeared to have been the victims of a frenzied knife attack.
Dubliner Dean Lyons, a homeless drug addict, was arrested and apparently made an elaborate and detailed confession to the killings. He was charged with the murders.
Another man, Mark Nash, confessed to the murders, outlining details that could only have been known to someone at the scene. He was being questioned at the time about the killing of a Roscommon couple in August 1997.
Nash is serving life imprisonment for those murders. He later withdrew his confession to the Grangegorman murders, and has never been charged.
Seven months later, the charges against Mr Lyons were dropped. He died afterwards in England. An Garda Síochána issued an unprecedented apology to his family for their charging of an innocent man.
Senior counsel Shane Murphy was appointed by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the Dean Lyons affair, as it has become known.
Mr Murphy examined the Garda papers relating to Mr Lyons's so-called confession. He recommended that a commission of investigation be appointed to more fully investigate the affair.
This commission, which was conducted in private under George Birmingham SC, has now completed its work and a preliminary report has been circulated to persons involved in the investigation. It is details of this report that have found their way into the media.
When contacted by The Irish Times last night, Mr Birmingham declined to comment. His report is reported to conclude that some senior gardaí decided to pursue a prosecution against Mr Lyons despite reservations from their more junior colleagues. It is also reported to conclude that the DPP was never made aware of concerns about the reliability of Mr Lyons's statement.
The full report will be published next month.
