Daughter of murdered Cork man lobbies for victims' family support

Deirdre Coakley: 'I want to bring awareness of what victims’ families go through from the time the death happens to the time of the trial.' Picture: Jim Coughlan

A young Cork woman whose father was shot dead is meeting with the minister for justice this week to push for mental health supports for families of homicide victims.

The meeting between Deirdre Coakley from Macroom and Justice Minister Helen McEntee will take place online on Wednesday.

It follows an approach by Ms Coakley to the Department of Justice and Ms McEntee regarding deficiencies she feels are in the current system.

“I want to bring awareness of what victims’ families go through from the time the death happens to the time of the trial,” she said.

Deirdre Coakley with her mother Siobhan Coakley. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Cork Courts

One of the key areas which needs to be tackled, she believes, is the provision of mental health supports to all families affected by homicide. She acknowledges the existence of groups set up to help people through crime, including AdVic, which campaigns for greater rights for families of homicide victims.

However, she said: 

You need someone trained in the trauma line, trained in the murder line, to be there straightaway to help you that what you are feeling is normal. You would trust those people.” 

She wants a national counselling service available through the criminal justice system for families like hers.

In October 2020, Ms Coakley wrote to the Department of Justice just days after a court hearing was told the man who was accused of shooting her father Derry near Macroom in October 2018 had died before entering a plea in the case.

Derry Coakley: The man who was accused of shooting him near Macroom in October 2018 died before entering a plea in the case. Picture: Richard Mills.

The late Gerard Lynch, 68, from Curraheen, Raleigh North, Macroom, had been charged with the murder of the 60-year-old plant hire contractor at Curraheen, Raleigh North, between October 23 and October 24, 2018.

A nolle prosequi was entered in the case in October 2020 when he died from a terminal illness before the case came to trial.

In her correspondence to Ms McEntee late last year, 24-year-old Ms Coakley, said: “Since October 2020, I have taken the time to reflect on my experience through the justice system fighting for my dad. I can see a severe gap in managing victims’ families from a mental health perspective. There was no counselling support for my mom or I, no prep in relation to what we were going into in the criminal court, no debrief or support after a horrible day learning there was nothing more to be done.” 

She and other family members were told in August 2020 at a hearing of the Central Criminal Court in Dublin that it was not possible for a plea hearing to be held virtually before Gerard Lynch’s impending death.

She wants families to be allowed deliver a victim impact statement, even if the case cannot go ahead. She could not do so because such statements cannot be made where a nolle prosequi is entered.