No hope as long as our justice system favours the criminals
Prior to his arrest he had received a seven-year sentence in England for a similar crime. A culture of death, driven largely by drink and drugs, has Irish society by the throat.
Donna Cleary - and so many other innocent victims - may have been killed by brutal, uncaring thugs, but her killers were aided and abetted by a Department of so-called Justice that daily releases serious criminals back into society with only a fraction of their sentences served; by a Government that sheds crocodile tears while failing to reform a failed system; and by a judiciary that refuses to respect the demands of society for mandatory sentencing.
Our criminal justice system is obsessed with the rights of the accused and cares little for the rights and feelings of innocent victims.
A legal system that fails to deliver real justice to crime victims does not need reform - it should be abandoned and replaced with a system that would compel serious and career criminals to answer for their crimes.
Jerry McCabe’s killers would be free today but for the courage of his widow in standing up to a cowardly Government about to sneak them out of their luxury prison to gain brownie points with serial killers.
This cancer in our society shames us all, particularly those in authority whose failure to discharge their duty helped to provide the loaded gun that killed this young mother. Ours is a sick and dysfunctional society in self-destruct mode. How many more wake-up calls do we need?
John F Murray
Garrylucas
Kinsale
Co Cork
