'Gardaí attacked us in our home'

Six members of the family of Terence Wheelock, who died having been in Garda custody last year, claim to have been assaulted by gardaí at their home on 17 May. Scott Millar hears their account of what happened

On the evening of Wednesday 17 May, at around 7.15pm, Laurence Wheelock, Terence Wheelock's brother, was holding a weekly campaign meeting in his home with the parents and sister of John Maloney. Terence died from injuries received in Garda custody in June 2006; John Maloney died an hour after leaving Garda custody in 2003; both families want the circumstances of their sons' deaths independently investigated.

"While we were talking in the kitchen, a knock came to the window," says Laurence Wheelock. "I saw two guards holding Gavin, one by the neck, one around the waist. Me and my dad ran out to see what was going on. Gavin was only after leaving the house a couple of minutes before to distribute leaflets [calling for an independent investigation into his brother's death]. The guard says he was doing him on a public order offence. We said, 'Look, he didn't do anything wrong.' We ended up managing to get them to let go of Gavin. With that they tried to arrest my father."

Laurence Wheelock says he went back into the house to ring the family solicitor. He recognised one of the gardaí as the same officer who the family believe arrested Terence Wheelock last summer. In copies of the arresting documentation, this garda's name has been scored out but is still legible. Noticing a growing number of police gathering outside, Laurence Wheelock returned to the front door.

"I asked the sergeant was he responsible for the guards that had tried to drag Gavin away by the neck. He told me to 'get out of his fucking face'. I stood back and repeated, 'Are you responsible?' With that he tried to grab me... He and two other guards got me and started laying into me, kneeing and kicking my body and face. All I could see was a load of police coming past me. I heard my ma and my sisters screaming." Esther Wheelock, Laurence's mother, was at the door: "There was about eight or ten of them trying to get through the door and my daughter, who is six months' pregnant, screaming behind me. The sergeant ... just pushed in and my child got a dig in the stomach."

Neighbours confirmed that up to 30 gardaí had appeared suddenly and eight to ten gardaí forced their way into the Wheelocks' home. A young neighbour who had left the vicinity after filming the scene, fearing that his video phone would be confiscated, returned.

On the grainy footage gardaí can be seen forcibly entering the Wheelock home, while in the foreground Laurence is lying prone, surrounded by at least three officers. Youths are visible in the pictures, but it was the gardaí, present in large numbers, who controlled the situation.

Since that evening gardaí have maintained a near-constant presence outside the Wheelock home. Whatever the intention of gardaí, the Wheelocks feel intimidated by their presence within yards of the front door. Laurence Wheelock has been videoing their activities. He said: "Videoing them so we have evidence is the only way the family feels safe. If they think this will stop our campaign for justice they are wrong – it is only making us more determined."

The neighbour's video-phone and Laurence Wheelock's tapes are now in the custody of the Wheelock's legal advisors. A court order has been placed for CCTV footage of the area. The family has made complaints to the Local Community Policing Forum and local representatives, including Bertie Ahern.

They were legally advised to hold out on making a formal complaint until the appointment of the Garda Ombudsman. However, this appointment has now been postphoned until January 2007. Complaints must be made within six months of an incident and, once put under the auspices of the Garda Complaints Board, can not be transferred to the Ombudsman.

Six members of the Wheelock family, and Sandra Maloney, claim to have been assaulted by gardaí on 17 May. Speaking to local Labour TD Joe Costellow after the incident, a Garda superintndent described what happened as a confrontation between local youths and officers following their attempt to arrest Gavin Wheelock.

Joe Costello said: "There were three gardaí outside when I visited and they were closest to the Wheelock house," he continued. "The matter needs to be dealt with before it gets worse. Obviously there was a need for an independent investigation into Terence's death in the first place, rather than an internal inquiry by a member of the force that had served in Store Street for many years."

Local community activist Ciaran Perry said: "I was in the Wheelock home just after the incident on Wednesday night and the fear among everyone in the house was palpable. There is heroin dealing going on less than five minutes walk in every direction from the Wheelock home and nothing is being done about it, yet the gardaí can afford to station over ten officers in this one street... What does that say about their priorities?"p