Criminal justice delays ‘to be tackled’

WAYS of speeding up the criminal justice system, now almost at a standstill because of delays and legal manoeuvring, will be fully explored, the Department of Justice said yesterday.

Sarah Fitzpatrick, whose son, Brian, was beaten to death five years ago, said the justice system had failed her, her family and many other victims of increasingly brutal crime.

People like Ms Fitzpatrick feel frustrated and let down by a system that was established to bring perpetrators of horrific crimes to justice.

Brian, a single 43-year-old health board worker, was killed while returning to the home he shared with his elderly parents in Finglas, Dublin.

Last month, Richard Bourke and Michael Geoghegan, the two young North Dublin men accused of Brian’s murder, were acquitted when the jury was directed to bring in a not guilty verdict.

The case collapsed when Mr Justice Liam McKechnie ruled that certain statements taken from the two men, while detained at Blanchardstown and Finglas garda stations, should be excluded from evidence.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is already exploring ways of explaining why some cases are not prosecuted and why there are delays in those that do go to trial.

A spokesperson for the department said Justice Minister Michael McDowell sympathised with families of murder victims like Ms Fitzpatrick who felt let down by the legal process.

While the minister could not interfere with the role of either the DPP, the courts or the gardaí, he was anxious to bring them together to explore ways of speeding up the criminal justice system, the spokesperson pointed out.

A staff shortage in the offices of the State Solicitors and the Director of Public Prosecutions is believed to be responsible for delays of up to two years in some cases.

Gardaí, who are all too aware of the grief and frustration experienced by families of murder victims, believe the criminal justice system is in danger of grinding to a halt.

Two months ago, gardaí in south Dublin, received a direction to prosecute a murder committed four years ago. The family of the victim will probably have to wait two years before the case comes to trial.