Rossiter civil claim to proceed

THE parents of a 14-year-old who died after a night in garda custody will press ahead with a civil claim against the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice for the wrongful killing of their son, even if they are unable to take part in a State-ordered inquiry.

Pat and Siobhan Rossiter attended a preliminary hearing of the inquiry yesterday and have been asked to return on Friday for further discussions as a dispute over the payment of legal fees and expenses threatens their involvement.

They have been told attendance fees will be paid for a senior and junior counsel and a solicitor on the days the inquiry sits. No other fees run up in preparing for the hearings have been promised and the family have been warned the head of the inquiry has no discretion on the matter.

Pat Rossiter, who attended yesterday’s hearing, said the family cannot afford to co-operate with the inquiry. His family are “bitterly disappointed” but they had no choice, Mr Rossiter said.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell was “sorry to hear” the family had decided not to attend the hearing, but this would not prevent the inquiry from going ahead. He said the Government had offered them the maximum rates allowable.

Brian Rossiter had been arrested in Clonmel on suspicion of public order on Tuesday September 10 2002, and held overnight with the consent of his father. The next morning he was found in a coma and he died in hospital two days later. It is claimed he suffered a number of injuries while in custody.

A man was charged with manslaughter and the serious assault of the teenager following an incident in the town the previous Sunday. But it emerged the Director of Public Prosecutions did not see the file or sanction the manslaughter charge.

He now faces a minor assault charge.

Rossiter family solicitor Cian O’Carroll has said the inquiry’s terms of reference are too narrow as they relate only to actions of a number of gardaí on the night Brian was taken into custody and cannot answer the question of why he died.

Two other legal teams, one for the rank and file gardaí, the other a retired superintendent, are also unhappy on the fees issue. All three are to contact minister McDowell before Friday.

If there’s no change before then, the Rossiter family will not take part, Mr O’Carroll said.

“We will focus our attention on the High Court action, a case against the commissioner, the minister and the State for the unlawful killing of Brian Rossiter and the negligent failure to protect him,” he said.