Government apologises to family of cyclist killed in hit-and-run crash
The Justice Minister has announced a review of bail laws after apologising to the family of a Monaghan cyclist who was killed in a hit-and-run crash almost 14 years ago.
On August 2nd, 2011, 23-year-old law graduate Shane O'Farrell was cycling home when he was struck by a car in the Carrickmacross area of Co Monaghan.
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The driver of the car, Zigimantas Gradzuiska, failed to remain at the scene.
The Lithuanian national had a number of previous convictions including for theft and drugs offences.
The Dáil heard that the day he struck Mr O'Farrell, Gradzuiska should have been in jail for breaches of bail conditions that were applied to him at the time.
In one instance, the late Judge John O'Hagan had told him that he would be 'going to prison' if he got in trouble again after January 11th, 2011.
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He received multiple convictions after that date, for which he lodged appeals.
The family of Shane O'Farrell (Niall Carson/PA)
He was also serving a number of suspended sentences and there had been numerous warrants for his arrest which had not been executed.
In addition, the Garda Drug Squad stopped the car approximately one hour before the collision and the Dáil has previously heard it was observed to be in a dangerous, defective condition, but allowed to continue with Gradzuiska as the driver.
Gradzuiska was prosecuted in February 2013 for dangerous driving causing Mr O'Farrell's death.
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He was acquitted of that charge by direction of the trial and, under the law at the time, a lesser charge of careless driving was not open to the jury.
Mr O'Farrell's family have been calling for a public inquiry into the circumstances of his death and why Gradzuiska had not been in jail.
Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan (Brian Lawless/PA)
That call was supported by Fianna Fáil TD Jim O'Callaghan while he was in opposition.
Mr O'Callaghan, who has since become Minister for Justice, told the Dail in March that he cannot now ignore that a scoping exercise into Mr O'Farrell's death recommended that there should be no further public inquiry.
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Delivering an apology to the O'Farrell family in the Dail on Tuesday, he said he did not need a public inquiry to establish the facts in the case or address failings that led to the fatal incident.
He acknowledged that the Dail and Seanad had previously voted to support an inquiry, but added that he did not need one to confront those failings or issue the apology.
Mr O'Callaghan said Mr O'Farrell had his 'whole life ahead of him' and that his 'loss was incalculable'.
He said he could not alleviate the pain felt by the family and added: 'It is incumbent on me as Minister for Justice to apologise to Shane O'Farrell and the O'Farrell family for the fact that the criminal justice system did not protect him as it should have.'
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Mr O'Callaghan announced a range of reforms including a review of bail laws and suspended sentences, as well as an amendment to road traffic laws to allow juries to consider a lesser charge of careless driving in instances where a trial judge has directed the acquittal of a person on dangerous driving.
'The legitimate questions that the O'Farrell family have asked are why the persistent breaches of bail conditions by Gridziuska, through the commission of further offences, did not trigger a response under our criminal justice code, and why were consecutive sentences not imposed in respect of the offences he committed whilst on bail, and why warrants that were issued were not executed.'
He added: 'The broader question that needs to be answered is how our criminal justice system should respond to a recidivist offender who persistently breaks summary laws and whether, even if the theft offences had been brought back to the attention of Judge O'Hagan, the Judge would have had the jurisdiction through statutory power to remand Gridziuska in custody.'
The minister also announced plans to memorialise Mr O'Farrell with a Department of Justice-funded scholarship that will be awarded to a student who distinguishes him or herself in the Masters in Law degree at University College Dublin every year.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald (Liam McBurney/PA)
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the apology was a vindication of the 'courageous and relentless pursuit of truth and justice' by the O'Farrell family.
However, Ms McDonald said no answers had been provided to 'credible allegations' that Gradzuiska 'had been operating as a garda informer'.
She also said that the 'bereft family' had been 'forced to battle for more than a decade against a State and a system that should have their backs'.
Ms McDonald said: 'This person was routinely able to flout bail, court orders and custodial sentences.
'He hit and killed a young man with his car – at a time when he should have been in jail.
'The big unanswered question is this – why he was at liberty on the night that he fatally struck Shane with this car?'
Taoiseach Micheál Martin (Niall Carson/PA)
Prior to the apology, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government recognises the deep pain, trauma and sense of loss suffered by Shane's parents Lucia and Jim.
'What occurred should not have occurred. One of the most fundamental duties of the State is to seek to keep our people safe.'
However, he said that 'tragically due to failings within our justice system' Mr O'Farrell was exposed to danger to which he should not have been exposed.
Mr Martin said those series of feelings allowed Gradzuiska to be at liberty when he should have been in custody.
'It is is obvious that our communities deserved better, the O'Farrell family deserved better, Shane O'Farrell deserved better.'
He commended the family for their bravery and courage over the intervening years.
Tánaiste Simon Harris (Brian Lawless/PA)
Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Government was acknowledging failures in the Courts Service and criminal justice service that exposed Mr O'Farrell to danger.
He said Government has made decisions following Mr O'Callaghan's recommendations which he hoped would 'bring about meaningful change'.
Mr Harris said: 'I hope today in some small way can start to heal the wounds left by Shane's untimely death.'
He added: 'Nothing we can do or say can ever make up for the grief and sorrow of the O'Farrell family, and the anguish of their long campaign for justice, but I hope that the apology today and the actions we are taking alongside it may be some balm for the pain you bear.
'I hope you will take some comfort in having translated that pain into changes that should protect others in the way that Shane should have been protected, so that other families do not endure the suffering that you have.
'Shane's memory lives on in this and in so many ways thanks to your enduring love and inexhaustible resilience.'
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