Reasons for failure to prosecute killer ‘must be probed’

THE confession of a double murderer to the killing of two elderly women and the reasons why he was not prosecuted should be probed as part of an inquiry into the Dean Lyons affair, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said last night.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell has asked the Department of Finance for approval to set up an inquiry into how a drug addict confessed to a murder he didn’t commit, why he went to prison charged with the offence after another man confessed.

The move to set up the inquiry comes after a senior counsel reviewed papers related to the case. It centres on Mr Lyons’ confession to the murders of Mary Callinan and Sylvia Sheils in March 1997.