THE GARDA Ombudsman has raised serious concerns over the force’s handling of a case involving a troubled 14-year-old boy who died while in the care of the State.
The boy, who had a history of behavioural problems and self-harm, was due to be admitted to a secure care unit in Dublin for his own safety immediately after a High Court order in December 2006.
However, gardaí failed to execute the order and the boy took his own life five days later.
His parents complained to the Garda Ombudsman that the Garda had failed to enforce the High Court order and did not conduct an adequate search for their son despite being told of his whereabouts in the hours before his death.
In its report into the force’s handling of the case, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission said it was “surprising and disquieting” that responsibility for such a serious matter was not in the general knowledge of members on duty in the area.
In addition, the commission said the response of the Garda to a supervised investigation into the complaints was “highly unsatisfactory”.
“Given the seriousness of the issues involved, it might have been expected that the investigation would have been pursued with a great deal more diligence and expedition,” the report states.
A number of errors were made which led to lengthy delays in the Garda’s own investigation into the case. These included initially assigning a superintendent who was involved in the original case to lead the investigation, in contravention of Garda rules and regulations.
The commission’s report states that it was satisfied that one member of the Garda was in breach of discipline for failing to conduct an adequate search for the boy.
In addition, this officer did not take steps such as placing a trace on the boy’s phone, which might have helped to find him sooner.
This garda has since retired and will not be subject to any disciplinary action.
Overall, it said it was satisfied that no evidence had emerged to show that any other member of the force was in breach of discipline.
In its report, the commission said it found it “perplexing” that a Garda directive on how to deal with children in custody on foot of a court order was not followed.
This directive states that responsibility for locating and lodging a minor who is the subject of a court order rests with the superintendent in charge of the district where the care centre is located.
While the relevant superintendent was notified of the High Court order, neither he nor any other personnel in the district appeared to have any role in efforts to locate the boy prior to his death.
The report states that, as with many such incidents, the boy’s death came about not through one single cause but because of a convergence of factors.
It notes: “The death by suicide was not necessarily predictable. Nonetheless, there had been a documented history of threatened self-harm and potentially dangerous behaviour of which all of the relevant agencies were aware through case-conferences.”
In a commentary on the case, the ombudsman commission states that in future – where these High Court orders are made – they should be monitored and managed by a superintendent or higher ranking officer.
In future supervised investigations, the commission said it was open to the Garda Commissioner to nominate a chief superintendent from another division to lead an investigation into a disciplinary case.
“The commission is of the view that this would be preferable in certain cases where very serious issues, such as loss of life, are involved or where there appears to have been a serious failure of systems.”