Ms Fiona Murphy:

To take a slightly different perspective that complements what has been said already, we need to look at the first interactions between a person and the criminal justice system and at how somebody who is not managed appropriately could end up in the criminal justice system. It really needs to start on the street with the first encounters. I am reminded of an allegation that was made against a young man with autism that he was hitting two girls with sticks. He was arrested and was not treated very well in custody. He was awarded costs against the State. There was an issue about whether the man was lawfully detained under the Mental Health Act 2001. The man could not communicate verbally and his mother was dead, so neither could give evidence. That shows how quickly the unconscious bias steps in. By all accounts, previous complaints had been made to the gardaí about suspicious activity around the area and I think they jumped to a conclusion about this individual. It goes back to training. Gardaí are under-resourced anyway. In our interactions with them, individually they are quite passionate about addressing this issue as well.