Community stunned at death of little boy

"I remember her as a little child in my garden, she played together with my kids. And this is what was ahead. It’s heartbreaking."

As a steady stream of mourners added more bouquets to the field of flowers and remembrance cards outside the Ridge Hall apartments in Ballybrack, a close family friend who watched Hazel Waters grow up struggled to grasp the news.

William — who declined to give his second name — was one of many leaving condolences at the front of the complex, where a day earlier two-year-old Hassan Khan’s life was tragically ended.

Clutching a small “remembrance” pillow complete with a baby figurine wrapped safely in a blanket which he left among the flowers, the elderly man wanted to talk about the family he knows.

He wanted people to understand this isn’t just another headline, that real people “only as perfect as the rest of us” are involved.

However, even as he spoke, William realised there will never be enough words to explain what has happened.

Hassan’s mother is being questioned in relation to the incident. And, regardless of the outcome, a tight-knit community is changed, forever.

“I’ve lived across the road from [the Waters’ family home] in Oakton Park since 1973. All eight of those children were reared with mine, we know them that well. I remember her [Hazel] as a little child in my garden, she played together with my kids,” said William. And this is what was ahead. It’s heartbreaking.

“I feel so sorry for her because it’s two lives ruined. It’s not just two lives even, it’s the entire community, this is such a horrible thing.

“We see these things on television, or happening across the water in England, now all of a sudden it’s here. Just down the road. I wasn’t there, but I can see in my head what happened to that child.”

Locals in the south Dublin village were shocked, explaining how Hazel was a beautician, who worked in New York with the likes of Richard Gere and Hillary Clinton.

The 43-year-old mother was seen on Thursday afternoon in Ballybrack village acting unusually outside the local Centra and the Ramblers Rest bar, while grasping a wooden spoon her son had been seen holding outside a nearby Chinese restaurant earlier in the week.

“She was hanging around and I joked, ‘have you been stood up’. She just drew her breath,” said Centra worker Lynda Kohrs.

Gardaí are examining CCTV footage from the area, and why exactly the mother appeared distant in the hours before the alarm was raised by her sister.

At the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland in Clonskeagh, Dr Ali Selim said he and other members are trying to give Hassan’s father Mohamed Saleem, who is separated from Hazel, all the support they can.

“It is really a shock, I have not heard of something like this before, but nothing has been proven. It’s an ongoing situation,” he said.

Rescue alert was withdrawn within the hour

By Noel Baker

Just five Child Rescue Ireland (CRI) alerts have been issued since the system was introduced two years ago, but in the case of Hassan Khan, it was withdrawn within the hour.

A little over two months later, the two-year-old has died in tragic circumstances, prompting inevitable questions over what level of intervention or supervision was provided in the aftermath of the initial CRI alert on August 10.

At the launch of the CRI system in May 2012, then Garda commissioner Martin Callinan outlined how the purpose of the alert was to “seek the assistance of the public when investigating child abduction cases”.

“It does so by publicising relevant information and details which facilitate members of the public in identifying the abducted child, the suspect, or vehicles involved in the abduction, and immediately feeding that information back to the investigating gardaí.”

He listed “strict criteria [which] must be met before the CRI alert will be issued”, namely:

-That the child is under 18 years;

-There is a reasonable belief that the child has been abducted;

-There is a reasonable belief that there is an immediate and serious risk to the health or welfare of a child;

-There is sufficient information available to enable the public to assist gardaí in locating the child.

Stressing that a CRI alert would only be initiated when there is “a reasonable belief that there is an immediate and serious risk to the health and welfare of the abducted child”, he said every case would be investigated thoroughly.

According to Tusla: “A CRI alert is activated by An Garda Síochána when there is a reasonable belief that there is an immediate and serious risk to the health or welfare of the child. In all such cases where the gardaí have a concern in relation to a child’s or a young person’s welfare, Tusla — Child and Family Agency are notified as per Children First guidance. All child protection and welfare referrals received from the gardaí are acted upon immediately and are followed up in accordance with the guidance. Each case is assessed and an appropriate response is determined, appropriate to the level of risk to the child. It is worth noting that the death of any child known to the Child and Family Agency is notified to the national review panel.”