Justice Department continues to cover up

New report will examine whether gardaí fabricated the confession of Dean Lyons to the murder of Sylvia Shiels and Mary Cullinan. By Vincent Browne

On his return from his holidays in Australia, Michael McDowell will find awaiting him a report from senior counsel Shane Murphy on the now notorious Dean Lyons case. The report will presumably address issues central to the case which, so far, have been obfuscated.

Dean Lyons was charged in July 1997 with the murder of two elderly women, Sylvia Shiels and Mary Cullinan, in Grangegorman, Dublin on the night of 6/7 March 1997.

Dean Lyons was a heroin addict who, at the time, was sleeping rough. An initial interview with gardaí investigating the Grangegorman murders was video recorded and it showed Lyons in an incoherent, confused state. In an interview conducted shortly afterwards, which was not recorded, Lyons, according to gardaí, made a detailed, coherent confession, admitting to the murders and giving precise details about the incident, including information on the weapon used to kill the women, the layout of the house where the women were killed and gruesome particulars of the murders. Such information could have been know only to the actual murderer and the gardaí who examined the scene.

The gardaí sent his written statement admitting to the Grangegorman murders to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the DPP ordered the prosecution of Dean Lyons for the murders.

On 15 August 1997 another man, Mark Nash, murdered Carl and Catherine Doyle in Roscommon. Nash was arrested in connection with these murders and, in the course of interrogation, he admitted to the murders of Sylvia Shiels and Mary Cullinan as well. Following these admissions, the then Garda Commissioner, Pat Byrne, appointed Assistant Commissioner Jim McHugh (now retired) to review all available evidence on the Grangegorman murders. His report was sent to the DPP, who then ordered that charges against Dean Lyons be dropped, but this did not happen until April 1998. Dean Lyons has since died.

In July 1999 the DPP decided no prosecution for the murders of Sylvia Shiels and Mary Cullinan should be taken against Mark Nash. No reasons for this decision were disclosed, as is the normal practice with the DPP. The decision was surprising for, in the confession made by Nash, he gave precise details of the murder and of the weapon used, again information known only to the actual murderer and to the investigating gardaÌ.

The case has been raised on several occasions in the Dáil over the last several years. On 30 May 2001 Tony Gregory raised the issue in an adjournment debate. Replying to the Debate on behalf of the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, John O'Donoghue, the then junior Minister, Eamon O'Cuiv, said "the general part of the detail in Mr Lyons's statement was general in nature and within the public domain". He said the interviews with Dean Lyons were conducted by gardaí "in accordance with regulations". He said, however, new training procedures for gardaí on interview techniques were being arranged. There was no suggestion in his remarks of any concern that gardaí may have fabricated the alleged "confession" on the part of Dean Lyons.

In another debate on the issue on 28 February 2002, Eamon O'Cuiv stated "the Minister (John O'Donoghue) believes he does not have any evidence available to him which would warrant the holding of an independent inquiry into this matter".

The issue was raised repeatedly by Tony Gregory with the current Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell. At all stages, Michael McDowell said there was no need for a public inquiry and that the gardaÌ were constrained in disclosing the report by Jim McHugh on the matter because the case was still open. Eventually, he agreed to have a senior counsel examine the papers in the matter.

It is likely the Shane Murphy report will not be published either, on the ground that doing so might prejudice a future prosecution.

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