Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I am obliged to the Ceann Comhairle for permitting me yet again to raise the Dean Lyons case, the facts of which are well known.

In July 1997, Dean Lyons, a homeless heroin addict, was arrested and questioned in connection with the brutal killing of two vulnerable women in sheltered health board accommodation in Grangegorman. He was questioned by detective gardaí in a video and tape recording suite and, as was his wont, admitted to every charge put to him. His parents said he was completely disoriented and was swaying and slurring his words. After they left him he was questioned again but this time there was no video or audio taping. As a result, he made a written statement containing a chronologically correct narrative about the murders in clear grammatical English and with vivid and chilling accuracy he described the murder scene. On the basis of his confession he was charged with the murders. If his trial had proceeded, it would have been impossible for him to withdraw a confession that contained such accurate and unpublished detail. We know now that Dean Lyons did not commit the Grangegorman murders and the Garda Commissioner has apologised to his family.

A number of questions arise, fundamental questions that so far neither the Garda nor the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has answered. How did it transpire that a strung-out heroin addict confessed in such a manner and in such accurate and unpublished detail when he did not commit the murders? Only the real killer and the investigating gardaí could have known the detail in his statement.

There is no need for me to spell out the only reasonable inference to be drawn. It is, unless it can somehow be explained, a profoundly disturbing inference for the administration of justice in this democracy. Why was Dean Lyons held in custody for eight months and then released without explanation? Why was another man who confessed to the Grangegorman murders never brought to trial?

The internal inquiry conducted by the Garda Síochána has been kept secret and up to now the Minister, Deputy McDowell, has demonstrated little public interest in confronting the implications of this case or in allaying public disquiet. This was a particularly unequal confrontation between the forces of the State and one of its more inadequate citizens. Law-abiding citizens cannot avoid the conclusion that Dean Lyons, for whatever reason, was stitched up by a member or members of the Garda Síochána for a crime he did not commit.

Two vulnerable women have been murdered and the murder remains unsolved. Could it happen again? The Minister must confront the implications of this case made in my submission. He must cause these extraordinary events to be properly investigated and report the outcome and conclusions to this House together with whatever recommendations are necessary to protect against a recurrence.

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