Priest appeals for answers at Mountjoy victim’s funeral

A PRIEST yesterday asked Justice Minister Michael McDowell why murder victim Gary Douch had to die the way he did in prison.

Gary ‘Niga’ Douch had just turned 21 when he was beaten and strangled to death in an overcrowded cell in Mountjoy Jail on August 2 last.

Speaking at his funeral Mass yesterday, Fr Terry Murray appealed to the media to seek answers from the Minister for Justice.

“Can you ask Michael McDowell one question: why?” said the parish priest at Our Lady Immaculate Church in Darndale, north Dublin.

He said Gary’s family would pursue the matter until they got answers.

Fr Murray said the nature of Gary’s death was shocking for the family, the community and the country.

He said you would not put an animal into the small holding cell that Gary was kept in, along with six other inmates. The six included a violent psychiatric patient Stephen Egan who knew Gary from their youth in Darndale. Egan was questioned by gardaí in connection with the killing and has since been returned to the Central Mental Hospital.

Gary had been in prison since November 2004 for a number of convictions, including assault causing harm. Fr Murray said it was a shame someone had to die before the prison authorities acted and did away with the communal holding cell.

“There are now three cells, to give each prisoner the dignity that Niga was denied,” he said.

He said Gary would now be full of himself knowing he had changed the face of Mountjoy and the Irish Prison Service.

Fr Murray extended his deepest sympathies to the family, including Gary’s mother Margaret and dad Alfie.

He said Gary had his Christening, Communion and Confirmation in the church. Photographs from these, and other, days were displayed on an overhead projector, showing Gary in happier, more innocent times. Fr Murray read out a letter from one of Gary’s sisters, Elouise.

She said she could not understand why Gary had to die the way he did.

“It fills me with so much anger and hate, but I won’t let it cast a shadow over my good memories,” she said.

Fr Murray said Gary would now be joining many of his friends in heaven, indicating the tragic endings for many young men in the Darndale area.

The priest thanked Gary’s friends who attended the removal and funeral Mass for the way they showed their respect.

He said he had earlier yesterday held a service in Mountjoy Jail attended by inmates.

One of them attended the funeral Mass and read a letter saying he hoped Gary’s death would improve the safety of inmates in Mountjoy.