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.

Barrister Shane Murphy was asked to carry out a private inquiry into how Mr Lyons, then 24, came to make the confession. Mr McDowell, on receipt of the report, decided to request the Department of Finance to release money for a wider inquiry.

If it goes ahead, it is likely to be conducted under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, enacted last year to make public investigations speedier and cheaper.

Mr Rabbitte said: “I think the commission ought to have the capacity to get to the bottom of it. The issues at stake are some of the gravest in terms of public interest.”

Mr Rabbitte believes gardaí from Roscommon, where double murderer Mark Nash stabbed to death two people in August 1997, should be invited to give evidence. While being questioned about the fatal stabbings, Nash confessed to the other murders.

The Labour leader also believes the investigation should look at the role of the DPP in the affair.

Mr Lyons was arrested shortly after the murders and confessed, allegedly including details known only to the killer and investigators. He was charged with the murder of Ms Callinan and remanded in custody.

Months later, Mark Nash, who was being interrogated in Galway about the double murder in Roscommon, admitted he killed the two women. Nash, who later retracted the confession, is said to have included key details that would not have been known to the wider public.

Mr Lyons remained in prison for a number of months after the confession before the charges and he was released. He died in Manchester in September 2000. His parents, Sheila and Jackie Lyons, have campaigned for years for an inquiry. They received an apology from the Garda Commissioner earlier this year.

An internal garda report in to the affair was completed five years ago but details have never been released. It was passed on to the DPP Nash was never prosecuted.