DPP probing unauthorised manslaughter charge

The Director of Public Prosecutions has begun investigating how gardaí charged a 25-year-old man with the manslaughter of a teenage boy without authorisation, it emerged tonight.

Charges were levelled against a Tipperary man over the death of Brian Rossiter, 14, who died two days after being found unconscious in a cell in Clonmel Garda Station.

A spokeswoman for the DPP confirmed it has launched a probe into how officers proferred charges against the man without being directed.

Noel Hannigan, of Cooleens Close, Clonmel, faced charges of assault and manslaughter in March 2004 over the boy’s death, only for the case to be dropped last month.

“In this case, the manslaughter and section four causing serious bodily harm, counts were put on the indictment though not directed by this office,” the DPP’s office stated.

“The circumstances of how this came about are under inquiry.”