Court chief ‘sorry’ for flaws in system that led to death

THE head of the Courts Service has apologised in person to the family of a man who died after being assaulted on the street by a criminal who was supposed to have been locked up.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has written to the Marie Keegan, the wife of Noel Keegan, expressing his “regret” on behalf of the state.

An investigation found that Martin McDonagh was free to assault Mr Keegan due to a “litany of flawed systems” within the courts, the prisons, gardaí and probation.

McDonagh, 24, from Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, assaulted the father-of- five in Longford town on New Year’s Eve 2009, after being granted temporary release from Castlerea Prison, where he was serving a two-year sentence for smashing a bottle over a man’s head.

The report found that McDonagh should never have been granted temporary release as he was supposed to be also serving a four-year jail term for a separate assault — of stabbing a man with a pitchfork.

In what the report said was the “major failure”, the warrant informing Castlerea Prison of this sentence was never transmitted by officials in Longford Circuit Court Office.

The report, written by Judge Michael Reilly, also said that more than 20 gardaí in Longford “knew or should have known” that McDonagh was unlawfully at large between December 17 and the assault on Keegan.

Judge Reilly, who is the Inspector of Prisons, said: “This report identifies a litany of flawed systems, outmoded work practices and the failure of organs of the ‘justice family’ to communicate with each other which combined with lapses of judgment, misjudgements and inattention to detail ended in tragic consequences, namely, the death of Mr Noel Keegan.”