If any doubt remained about the need for a Garda ombudsman who would automatically investigate any fatality in police custody, the circumstances surrounding the establishment of a statutory inquiry into the death of 14-year-old Brian Rossiter in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, would dispel it. Three years is an intolerable time-lag for any investigation.
That does not mean there was wrongdoing. But questions that should have been addressed at the time went unanswered. And public confidence in the Garda Síochána has been damaged further as a result.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has made the best of a bad situation by appointing Hugh Hartnett SC to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances of the teenager's death in September, 2002. He did so following considerable public controversy. Mr McDowell explained that he had only received the full Garda report on the case 10 days earlier. There are unfortunate echoes there of the McBrearty case in Donegal, which the Morris tribunal is investigating.
The Minister admitted his Department had failed to deal properly with correspondence from the Rossiter family. The suffering of the family had been compounded by official responses that had not addressed their legitimate concerns regarding the circumstances of their son's death, he said. And the delays involved were "indefensible".
The culture of delay, denial and cover-up that has infected the Garda Síochána in recent years and unhinged the Department of Justice has, unfortunately, raised its head again in this case. Even when a statutory inquiry became unavoidable because of increasing media attention and growing public unease, the Department initially sought to confine Mr Hartnett's investigation to serving gardaí, under separate legislation, rather than granting him powers to compel retired gardaí and civilians to testify.
The facts are simply stated. Brian Rossiter was involved in a fight on September 8th in which he suffered head injuries. Two nights later, he was arrested in Clonmel on public order offences and held overnight with the consent of his father. On the morning of the 11th, he was found unconscious and was taken by ambulance to St Joseph's Hospital in Clonmel. He was later transferred to Cork University Hospital but he never regained consciousness and died on September 13th.
The inquiry must establish what precisely happened to the boy and whether any police negligence or mistreatment was involved.