Family of Irish woman murdered in Japan should meet authorities before killer released, says Taoiseach
Andrew and Angela Furlong with their daughter, Andrea, leave Tokyo District Court on March 19, 2013, after Richard Hinds was convicted of killing their other daughter Nicola. Picture: AP Photo/Koji Sasahara
Japanese authorities should meet with the family of a murdered Irish woman before her killer is released later this year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said during his visit to Japan.
DCU student Nicola Furlong was found dead in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on May 24, 2012.
Her killer, American musician Richard Hinds, has shown no remorse for the murder. Due to Japanese law at the time, the then-19-year-old was tried as a minor and sentenced to five to 10 years.
He is due to be released by November at the latest, but in May an RTÉ investigation found that Japanese authorities said that he had just a “moderate” chance of being reintegrated into society.
Speaking in Japan, the Taoiseach said that he does not believe justice can be done in murder cases, but said that more stock needed to be taken of the reaction of the families of victims.
"The families of the victim of such a foul deed never get justice in life because of the fact that a loved one has been murdered. And my own sense is that the authorities more generally, including in Ireland, have to take the victims and the families more into account when it comes to release of prisoners, when it comes to commuting and sentences and when it comes to parole.
Mr Martin said that while he did not want to interfere in the case, he believes the Japanese authorities should meet Ms Furlong’s family.
“They have their own jurisprudence here. The judicial system here in Japan. And I don't want to interfere. I'll just say though, that the fullest consultation should take place with the family.
"And I think we just have to listen more to the victims, the families of victims because I know some cases I've met with parents some cases where extraordinary hurt has occurred through parole or people being left out for a couple of days maybe for different reasons, without proper consultation with the families."
Nicola and a friend had met Hinds at a Nicki Minaj concert in the Japanese capital in 2012. The women had been socialising earlier in the night with Hinds and his friend James Blackston, who was convicted of sexual assault on Ms Furlong’s friend.
A trial heard it was believed both women were drugged at the bar and bundled into a taxi. CCTV footage from the Keio Plaza hotel shows the suspects helping the women through the lobby and into their rooms.
