David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Seanad Éireann:

notes that: - on 2nd August, 2011, Shane O'Farrell was killed while cycling home when he was struck by a car driven by Zigimantas Gradzuiska;

- previously, on 11th January, 2011, in Monaghan Circuit Court, Mr. Zigimantas Gradzuiska was convicted of theft, and his sentence was adjourned for one year, with the judge stating that if he was convicted of other theft or fraud offences he was to be brought back before the court and that he would be put in jail;

- on 9th May, 2011, in Ardee District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of theft, yet was not then brought back before Monaghan Circuit Court where a prison sentence would have been activated;

- on 11th May, 2011, in Dundalk District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of speeding;

- on 8th June, 2011, in Carrickmacross District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of possession of heroin;

- on 14th July, 2011, in Newry, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of theft;

- on 25th July, 2011, in Monaghan District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of having no tax disc;

- all of these offences constituted a breach by Mr. Gradzuiska of his bail bond, yet no steps were taken to revoke the bail granted to him;

- consequently, at the time of the collision, Mr. Gradzuiska was on bail in respect of a number of offences and had breached his bail bond, and was serving a number of suspended sentences which should have been activated had the courts been informed of the relevant previous convictions;

- approximately one hour prior to the collision, the car in which Mr. Gradzuiska was travelling was stopped by Gardaí and was noted to be unroadworthy and without a National Car Test certificate; and

- in January 2012, a complaint was made to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) regarding the conduct and role of An Garda Síochána in the above matters, and a report into part of the complaints was published in April 2018; recognises that: - there is an obligation on An Garda Síochána to bring persons convicted of criminal offences, while serving suspended sentences, before the court and to inform the sentencing court that the person has been convicted of subsequent offences;

- where a member of An Garda Síochána becomes aware that a person has breached, or is in breach of a condition of bail, there is an obligation on such member to bring that breach to the attention of the court;

- there is an obligation on GSOC to properly investigate all complaints it receives and to determine all admissible complaints in a timely and expeditious fashion;

- the GSOC report was delivered in a timeframe that was not acceptable, and was ultimately deficient;

- this case involved multiple failures on the part of several justice agencies of the State, resulting in Mr. Gradzuiska being at liberty on the date of the death of Shane O’Farrell; and

- that it is now necessary to have the actions of An Garda Síochána, the Director of Public Prosecutions, GSOC, and the Courts Service examined in order to establish the truth as to how such failures took place, including the information sharing systems as between those agencies; and calls on the Government to: - immediately establish a Public Inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell; and

- ensure that adequate information systems exist within the Courts Service, so that courts can immediately access information in respect of sentences imposed or orders made on persons previously convicted of offences.”

I welcome the Minister for Justice and Equality to the House. This is a tragic case in which I have been involved over many years. The file is so big it was too big to bring into the Seanad. I have had so much correspondence over nearly seven years.

I first want to pay tribute to Shane's family. His mother and his sister are in the Public Gallery today. Without Lucia O'Farrell we would not be at this stage. She has persistently pursued this case on behalf of her son. I never had the pleasure of meeting Shane O'Farrell but Lucia sent me a photograph of him, which I got today. Shane was an extraordinarily vital young man who was full of life. That life was snatched away by a Lithuanian drug addict. It is quite extraordinary to think that a young man who was so alive was destroyed in this way.

A motion was put forward in the Dáil by Deputy Jim O'Callaghan that summarised some of Zigimantas Gridziuska's convictions. It stated:

— previously, on 11th January, 2011, in Monaghan Circuit Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of theft, and his sentence was adjourned for one year, with the judge stating that if he was convicted of other theft or fraud offences he was to be brought back before the court and that he would be put in jail;

— on 9th May, 2011, in Ardee District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of theft yet was not then brought back before Monaghan Circuit Court where a prison sentence would have been activated;

If Zigimantas Gridziuska had been in prison he could not have killed Shane. Deputy O'Callaghan's motion continued:

— on 11th May, 2011, in Dundalk District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of speeding;

— on 8th June, 2011, in Carrickmacross District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of possession of heroin;

— on 14th July, 2011, in Newry, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of theft;

— on 25th July, 2011, in Monaghan District Court, Mr. Gradzuiska was convicted of having no tax disc;

— all of these offences constituted a breach by Mr. Gradzuiska of his bail bond, yet no steps were taken to revoke the bail granted to him;

— consequently, at the time of the collision, Mr. Gradzuiska was on bail in respect of a number of offences and had breached his bail bond, and was serving a number of suspended sentences which should have been activated had the courts been informed of the relevant previous convictions;

— approximately one hour prior to the collision, the car in which Mr. Gradzuiska was travelling was stopped by Gardaí and was noted to be unroadworthy and without a National Car Test certificate;

Zigimantas Gridziuska was allowed to continue, and after all of this when he eventually went to trial, he was let off. There was no penalty whatever imposed on him: he was just sent back to Lithuania.

This has been going on for seven and a half years. There have been a number of different inquiries. With regard to our motion today, I was told by the Leader that the Minister would not be available. The Minister then stood up in the House and said he was anxious to be here and that he would be here. The next thing that happened was the Government said he could not because it had not made a decision - or at least this is what I have been informed of by the Leader. However, here the Minister is today-----