Probe into Grangegorman murders

An independent inquiry is to be launched into how innocent drug addict Dean Lyons confessed to the brutal double murder of two women in their Dublin home, it emerged today.

The homeless heroin user told gardaí he killed Sylvia Sheils and Mary Callinan in a frenzied knife attack in their house in the grounds of St Brendan’s Psychiatric Hospital, Grangegorman.

The charges were dropped without reason, and the murder investigation and arrest were the subjects of an internal garda inquiry, the conclusions of which have never been made public.

Following a review of the garda papers and actions by Shane Murphy SC, Justice Minister Michael McDowell has revealed a Commission of Investigation will be established in a bid to uncover the events around the Grangegorman murders.

The minister said it was an unusual case because Mr Lyons had repeated his false confession on a number of occasions while in custody.

“There’s also the question of the reliability of the statement and the circumstances in which it was obtained and whether or not the Director of Public Prosecutions was adequately informed over the apparent question marks over some of its content,” he said.

Fronted by one of the country’s leading barristers, George Birmingham SC, the inquiry will investigate how Mr Lyons came to be charged with murders, how and why the charges were later dropped and why no-one else had been charged.

Ms Sheils, 59, and Ms Callinan, 61, were stabbed to death as they lay in their beds in March 1997.

Mark Nash, a double murderer serving life for the August 1997 killings of a Roscommon couple, is said to have confessed to the murders.

It is understood he outlined details that could only have been known to someone at the scene, but he later retracted his confession. Seven months later the charges against Mr Lyons were dropped.

In an unprecedented move, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy then issued an apology to Dean Lyons’ parents, Sheila and Jackie.

The inquiry will be independent with full statutory powers to investigate the matter and take sworn evidence.

The Department of Justice stated that Mr Murphy’s report made a significant contribution to uncovering details of the controversy, but it did not have the power to examine persons under oath and determine facts.

Mr Murphy recommended the best way to resolve the issues was to establish a full Commission of Investigation.

The investigation will probe Mr Lyons’ confession, the adequacy of the garda assessment of the reliability of the confession, before and after he was charged with murder, and the adequacy of information provided by An Garda Síochána on July 27, 1997, to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It will examine whether the DPP should have been provided with any additional information regarding the case.

An expert group will also be set up to examine and report on general garda training and procedures.

It will look at how gardaí assess the fitness of people to be interviewed, avoid leading questions with vulnerable suspects, ensure the administration of medication or controlled substances does not adversely affect suspects and recording any bona fide reservations of a garda as to the truthfulness or accuracy of self-incriminating statements by a suspect.