Rossiter family angry at terms of inquiry

THE family of a teenage boy who died after spending a night in garda custody has reacted with disbelief to the publication of an inquiry’s terms of reference.

Siobhan and Pat Rossiter, the parents of 14-year-old Brian, said the barrister heading the inquiry was forbidden from asking the central question: did the teenager die as a result of injuries sustained while in custody?

“Why would (Justice) Minister Michael McDowell go to the trouble of establishing a statutory inquiry and at the same time prevent it from asking the only question that really matters?” they said in a statement last night.

A Department of Justice spokesman said: “Questions as to the cause of death of Brian Rossiter are central to the issue as to whether he was assaulted while in garda custody and whether his death was attributable to assault or neglect by members of An Garda Siochána.”

Brian was found in a coma in a cell in Clonmel Garda Station in September 2002. He died later in hospital.

A man was charged with manslaughter and serious assault. However, the charges were brought without a file being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, whose office has to give directions in relation to serious charges.

The family also believes the terms of reference, which were drawn up by officials from the Department of Justice, offers silence to the gardaí being investigated and is “completely impotent” against the senior ranking garda in charge of Clonmel on the night. He has since retired.

The terms of reference were published after 6pm on Wednesday evening. The family’s solicitor, Cian O’Carroll, says he only became aware of the terms at the same time, though a department spokesperson said they were faxed to him at 4.40pm.

The family was not contacted by anyone in the department prior to publication.

“The Department of Justice is desperately in need of a crash course in common humanity,” said Mr O’Carroll.

Brian’s parents said: “We understood that the purpose of this inquiry was to get to the bottom of Brian’s death. The nub of the issue is that Brian, a 14-year-old boy, was arrested and detained in what witnesses have said were violent circumstances.

“The primary question for any inquiry should clearly be whether he died as a result of injuries sustained while in custody. As established, this inquiry is not allowed to ask that question. This makes no sense.”

They have also questioned why the inquiry has been established under the 80-year-old Dublin Police Act.

“Such an inquiry is, in essence, a Garda Siochána disciplinary forum.”

The terms are a set of six allegations against six named gardaí and one retired garda superintendent, creating the “bizarre prospect” that the seven could quite lawfully refuse to give evidence on the basis that to do so might self-incriminate, Mr and Mrs Rossiter said. It is not clear, they added, why these seven were selected.

The Department of Justice said: “All gardaí who were involved in any way in the arrest and detention of Brian Rossiter on the 10th and 11th of September 2002 have been named. However, there is nothing to stop other gardaí also being summoned to answer questions.

“The suggestion that they can lawfully refuse to give evidence is incorrect,” the spokesman added.

He cited a Supreme Court decision in the NIB case that found that any incriminating statement made under compulsion to an inquiry cannot be tendered in evidence against its maker.