Family’s anger as daughter’s killer applies for transfer
Paulo Alexander Nascimento and 24-year-old Cork woman Gráinne Dillon were the only staff on duty in Jurys Inn Limerick on January 5, 2002, catering for almost 300 guests.
Mr Nascimento, a 27-year-old Portuguese national, had only been employed for six days when he shot Gráinne at close range with a single-barrelled shotgun in the breast, thigh and pelvic region.
Now Gráinne’s family have learned her killer, who was sentenced to mandatory life sentence in March after he pleaded guilty to her murder, has applied to serve the rest of his sentence in Portugal. It is believed one of the reasons he gave for his application is that his mother is unable to afford to visit him regularly.
The Dillon family say they are sickened by the development. “We have just been crying hysterically since we heard about this through the media. The Department of Justice didn’t even see fit to inform us of this,” Gráinne’s sister Cliona said yesterday from the family’s home in Glounthane, Co Cork.
“He murdered Gráinne and left her to bleed to death alone so he could steal 3,000 to buy a ticket back to Portugal. And now the Government are considering sending him back, paying for his flights. This is exactly what he wanted all along. The line has to be drawn somewhere,” she said.
While she sympathised with his mother for having to take long trips to see her son, she said all they have to visit is a grave.
“He murdered someone. There has to be consequences to that,” she said.
Under the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act, non-nationals can apply to serve their sentences in their native country. The sentence is then converted into the country of origin’s legislation, which could mean Nascimento could serve only half of his remaining time in prison.
“If he is transferred it would be to a low-risk prison because he did not commit the crime in Portugal, he could serve only half of his life sentence and no one there will really know what he did. He is probably not very popular in his Irish prison, but tough. He killed my sister,” Cliona said.
The family are appealing to the public to send an e-mail to Justice Minister Michael McDowell to urge him to keep Nascimento in an Irish jail.
“We want people to send an email to Mr McDowell at minister@justice.ie telling him they an email to Mr McDowell at minister@justice.ie telling him they do not want Nascimento repatriated. If enough people support us then maybe the minster will take our feelings into account,” Cliona said.
The Dillons are also awaiting the results of a Health and Safety Authority investigation into work practices in Jurys Inn.
