Parents want answers from minister over

PARENTS of a five-year-old girl left partially paralysed after getting caught up in a violent Traveller feud want the Minister for Justice to explain why the person responsible will not stand trial.

The DPP has informed investigating gardaí that no charges will be brought against the teenage Traveller who rammed Elizabeth Heapes into iron railings and left her with horrific injuries when his speeding car mounted the pavement.

The girl's parents, David and Ellen, have warned they will go on a hunger strike outside Leinster House.

"We will go all the way with this until we get an answer. ," said David.

Last week, Corkman Andrew Moynihan suspended his hunger strike to get justice for his son, Adrian, who died outside a Cork nightclub more than two years ago.

This came after Minister for Justice Michael McDowell gave him a written commitment that the garda commissioner was reviewing his case.

It is against DPP policy to comment on individual cases and yesterday the Department of Justice said neither the department nor Mr McDowell would comment on the decision not to press charges against the man who almost killed Elizabeth last November.

"That case is not a matter for the department or the minister at all. It is a matter for the gardaí and the DPP to decide," a spokesperson said.

Elizabeth, who lived in Tallaght when the accident occurred last August, was walking to a local shop when she became an innocent victim of a savage Traveller row. The intended target was a rival family's car.

Her mother, Ellen, had to force her way through the warring mob to reach her horribly-injured daughter.

The little girl's long blond hair had to be cut to release her from the wreckage. Her injuries included:

A ruptured bladder neck and urethra.

Two fractured femurs and a broken tibia.

A broken arm.

A transected vagina.

A shattered pelvis.

Traumatic spinal spondylolis-thesis.

She is now unable to walk without the aid of splints and despite more than 20 operations, she faces many more hours on operating tables.

Her injuries also mean she will never be able to have children.

The Heapes have two other children - Catherine, 11, and DJ, 9, and have moved from Tallaght because of fear of intimidation.

"We don't blame the gardaí, we blame the justice system. We want the Minister for Justice to explain why people can get away with this. Someone must be accountable ," said David.

"People cannot take the law into their own hands. The minister makes the law and he let us down. We need closure to get on with our lives and it is disgraceful we have to go public on this to get some response," he said.

Project manager of Tallaght Travellers Community Development Project Damien Peelo said he was very concerned about the case that highlighted the need for more transparency on decisions reached by the DPP.

Nobody should be perceived as being above the law, he said.