Victims of crime must be listened to, say gardaí

VICTIMS of crime, such as the sisters and fiancé of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney, should no longer be treated as bystanders, gardaí said yesterday.

Officers said that if the State failed these victims, it could not hold its head up, and that the law of the jungle would prevail.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said it was now “almost impossible” to convict someone in the higher courts such was the bias towards the accused.