Media complicity in the killing of John Carthy
Right from the beginning, RTÉ and others appreciated this was akin to a 'domestic incident' involving a mentally ill man. But it was depicted as a major 'siege' in a way that much have worsened the mental condition of John Carthy and caused him to behave more irrationally. By Vincent Browne
Paul Reynolds, RTÉ's crime correspondent, first heard of the Abbeylara "incident" while watching the early television news on Wednesday 19 April. He phoned the Garda press office and then spoke to Superintendent John Farrelly, head of the press office, on the latter's mobile phone.
On the basis of what he was informed, Paul Reynolds realised John Carthy was suffering from depression and what was involved at Abbeylara was more like a "domestic incident" than criminality. And yet, although RTÉ's chief informant on what was happening at Abbeylara was of the view that this was a "domestic incident" involving a man suffering from a mental illness, RTÉ gave the event major news coverage, first on television and then on radio through what became known as the "siege".
This was despite the fact that John Carthy was likely to see the television news bulletins – which he probably did, for he had television reception until early the following morning when the TV cable was cut – and was likely to be further disturbed by the huge publicity being given to the "domestic incident".
In the course of those phone contacts with gardaí on the evening of Wednesday 19 June 2000, Paul Reynolds was left to believe that John Carthy had "ordered" his mother out of their home following a dispute. This is what gardaí said they believed at the time but there was evidence to the contrary – most particularly from John Carthy's mother, Rosie Carthy, who said there had been no dispute and John Carthy had not "ordered" her from her home. Nevertheless that continued to be asserted by the media, not as something "alleged" by gardaí but as a fact. That, too, must have been an aggravating factor for John Carthy in the circumstances.
We asked RTÉ News a series of questions about its coverage of the Abbeylara incident. It failed to address directly any of the questions we asked (see panel). But in the course of its reply it asserted: "The events at Abbeylara began after a man, armed with a shotgun, ordered his mother out of their home." This was asserted again even after Rosie Carthy denied she had been ordered from her home – the tribunal report says he "told" his mother to go to the home of her sister.
RTÉ failed to explain in its response to us why it gave such wall-to-wall coverage to an event which, in the opinion of its correspondent on the scene, was a "domestic incident", especially when it was in a position to appreciate that such coverage was likely to exacerbate the condition of the mentally ill man at the centre of the incident – as it happens there is no evidence that at any stage John Carthy listened to any of the RTÉ radio stations but it is likely he watched the 9pm television news on Wednesday 19 April.
The Garda press office and its head, John Farrelly, denied tipping off the media at the outset of the incident. But, remarkably, within an hour of John Carthy firing shots at the Garda car that came on the scene, the media were aware and contact was being made with the Garda press office. Indeed, almost exactly an hour after the firing of the shots at the garda car, TV3 News reported on the incident and from then on a media frenzy ensured.
The media were informed of John Carthy's identity – none of the media disclosed his identity until 5.05pm the following day when RTÉ's 5-7 Live did so, along with details of John Carthy's private life. Also disclosed from the beginning was that John Carthy was suffering from a mental illness and, although RTÉ did not directly state this, Paul Reynolds repeatedly reported that John Carthy was in an "agitated" state and he told the tribunal he assumed his audience would be able to interpret this.
One of the first actions of the chief superintendent involved in the affair, Patrick Tansey, was to inform the Garda press office of what was going on. He did so, he said, in accordance with Garda procedures. But it is not clear why the actions of a mentally ill man, in a house on his own, in a remote part of rural Ireland, was a fit subject for the involvement of the garda press office.
The incident quickly became a major media event. Head of the Garda press office John Farrelly travelled down to Abbeylara to take charge of the Garda's liaison with the media on the scene. The media were afforded regular briefings on the "progress" of what was then being referred to as "the siege". And on the afternoon of Thursday 20 April, a few hours before John Carthy was shot dead, convoys of the media were escorted to the scene of the "siege" by Farrelly, where they were able to film, photograph and report on the ERU's presence there, in front of the "besieged house".
Farrelly denied in evidence at the tribunal that this was a public-relations exercise to show off the "crack" Garda unit but, again, it is hard to understand why the media would be facilitated to come on to a scene where a mentally ill man was working through his own traumas in front of a phalanx of armed gardaí. The footage of this public-relations exercise was broadcast afterwards on RTÉ news.
There was then the "package" put together by the editor of 5-7 Live, Niall O'Flynn, and broadcast less than an hour before John Carthy emerged from his home to be shot dead by gardaí. This package included "vox pops" with neighbours of John Carthy, one of which referred to a particularly private and painful episode in John Carthy's life, the breakup of a relationship with a woman in Galway. The package also disclosed for the first time on radio the identity of John Carthy.
This was described by the tribunal as "irresponsible" but it could hardly be characterised as a deliberate policy on the part of RTÉ management, which, clearly, the extensive news coverage was.
Lawyers representing RTÉ made vigorous efforts to persuade the tribunal from examining how this item was broadcast. We enquired of RTÉ why it went to such lengths to prevent an inquiry into this but failed to get a response.
There was then the frontpage sensational story in the Sunday Independent on 31 October 2004, which was headed: "Dramatic new evidence in Abbeylara case – Abbeylara family row over land may have affected siege victim Carthy's state of mind prior to his death".
This story was based on evidence given to the tribunal by the former girlfriend of John Carthy who said that at one stage he had alleged there was a dispute about land in the family. The allegation was entirely false and arose almost certainly from paranoia on the part of John Carthy, which was a side effect of his mental illness.
The Sunday Independent made no apparent effort to check the veracity of this claim. In itself this could be attributed simply to the standards of journalism that prevail on that newspaper. However, there is a more significant dimension. The tribunal chairman found: "The article was probably orchestrated by an unidentified member or members of An Garda Siochana or a person or persons close to them, who deceived [the reporter] and caused her to write in the Sunday Independent a story, the essence of which was untrue, incomplete and misleading; the purpose of the deception being to provide information supportive of the relationship between the deceased and his sister, Marie."
John Carthy and the Barr Tribunal
John Carthy was killed by gardaí at 6.05pm on 20 April 2000, when he emerged from his home armed with a shot gun. He was suffering from bipolar depression, exacerbated by several personal traumas including the break up of his relationship with his girlfriend, the imminent demolition of the home in which he was brought up and associated with his dead father, the loss of a job and agitation from maltreatment by gardaí in a previous encounter.
The report of a Tribunal of Inquiry, chaired by Robert Barr, former High Court judge, has recently been published. It severely criticises the the conduct of the gardaí at the scene.
RTÉ: Questions and few answers
We submitted the following questions to RTÉ News arising from the Tribunal report on Abbeylara:
RTÉ News was aware from an early stage of this event that the person in the centre of the "siege", John Carthy, was suffering from a mental illness. Paul Reynolds, your crime correspondent, believed this was a "domestic incident" (see page 482 of the report). How was a "domestic incident" a major news report on RTÉ news bulletins from 9pm on the evening of 19 April 2000, right through to the time of John Carthy's demise at 5.55pm on the following day?
Given that it was known John Carthy was suffering from a mental illness and this was what led to the "siege", how did RTÉ think it was serving its public broadcasting remit in making a major issue of this, when it must have known that by doing so it was aggravating the condition of John Carthy?
Was any consideration given by RTÉ News to making a unilateral decision to block all reportage of the incident when it was known there was nothing more at stake than a "domestic incident"?
If RTÉ News was of the view that there was more to this than a "domestic incident", what did it consider the incident to be and on what basis?
If RTÉ News shared the view of its crime correspondent that this was no more than a "domestic incident", why at no stage during the "siege" did it question gardaí why the ERU had been brought to the scene, why so many armed gardaí were surrounding the house, why medical attention was not immediately sought and given to John Carthy?
Why did RTÉ News persist in referring to this incident as a "siege", thereby giving the impression there was a hostage involved, or a dangerous criminal holed out which gardaí wanted to arrest?
Why was the "crime" correspondent deployed on a story that centrally involved a mental-health issue?
Does RTÉ News think it has any culpability in heightening the agitation and distress of John Carthy, which ultimately led to his death, by the prominence it gave the story from an early stage?
We received the following reply
The events at Abbeylara began after a man, armed with a shotgun, ordered his mother out of their home. He subsequently fired a number of shots at gardaí who had been called by his mother, and then barricaded himself into a house and fired more shots at gardaí during the early hours and into the following day. There was a large Garda presence outside the house and an armed man inside. The unfolding story was covered on that basis by RTÉ and by every other news media up to its tragic conclusion. The consequences of those events, up to and including the report of the tribunal, have also been the subject of much news and current affairs coverage.
Paul Reynolds and Donal Byrne [news editor on the day] of RTÉ News each spent a number of days at the Barr tribunal being cross examined under oath in the witness stand. They answered every question put to them by the tribunal chairman, the legal representatives of all parties. They gave their evidence openly and honestly and the chairman included the portions which he deemed relevant to his inquiry. Full details of RTÉ's responses are available in the transcript of their evidence.
The Barr tribunal makes no criticism of Paul Reynolds, Donal Byrne or RTÉ News for its coverage of the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara. It does not criticise the fact that RTÉ News covered the incident as a news story and clearly accepts it was a news story that RTÉ News would and should cover.
The tribunal also accepts that RTÉ News coverage of such events is "informed by a number of factors including past experience of similar incidents, a clearly defined path of editorial reference upwards for advice and guidance and common sense."
The Barr tribunal is clearly satisfied that RTÉ News was sensitive and responsible in the way it reported on the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara.
We replied asking RTÉ News to answer our questions but received no reply by the time of going to press.
We submitted the following questions to Adrian Moynes, director of radio at RTÉ:
Given that it was obvious from an early stage in the reportage of this story that John Carthy was suffering from a mental illness, why did RTÉ radio current affairs (aside from RTÉ News) give such coverage to the story?
Given that it was known John Carthy was suffering from a mental illness and this was what led to the "siege", how did RTÉ think it was serving its public-broadcasting remit in making a major issue of this, when it must have known that by doing so it was aggravating the condition of John Carthy?
Was any consideration given by RTÉ to making a unilateral decision to block all reportage of the incident when it was known there was nothing more at stake than a "domestic incident" (to use the characterisation of RTÉ's crime correspondent)?
Why did RTÉ persist in referring to this incident as a "siege", thereby giving the impression there was a hostage involved, or a dangerous criminal holed out which gardaí wanted to arrest?
Does RTÉ agree with the conclusion of the tribunal chairman that the naming of John Carthy and the reference to his relationship difficulties was "irresponsible".
Has RTÉ apologised to the Carthy family for the distress caused by the 5-7 Live broadcast?
Why did RTÉ attempt to prevail on the tribunal not to investigate the background to the naming of John Carthy and the disclosure of intimate private matters by 5-7 Live?
I understand there was a review of procedures and practices arising from this incident – could I have a copy of that review document?
Does RTÉ News think it has any culpability in heightening the agitation and distress of John Carthy, which ultimately led to his death, by the prominence it gave the story from an early stage?