Brian Rossiter — Report on Death of Child in Custody Due Shortly
Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2008In 2002, 14-year-old Brian Rossiter came home with a black eye and headaches after being attacked by a man in Clonmel. Two days later he was arrested on a public order charge. His father, Pat Rossiter, received a phone call from the gardai asking him to come to the station where they told him that Brian had overdosed on drugs and alcohol. When the police told him that his son had been on a drink and drugs binge for four or five days, Pat Rossiter consented to the child’s detention overnight because he felt a shock would teach him a lesson.
Pat Rossiter, unlike a Garda, is not a professional and therefore wouldn’t know that it is illegal to detain a child in this way.
The Gardai, who did know that it was illegal, imprisoned the child anyway.
The following morning Brian was taken to hospital having been found comatose in the cell. Pat Rossiter received a phone call from the gardai to say that his son had gone cold turkey and was in withdrawal. He went to the hospital and met detectives who suggested to him that Brian had taken a lot of ecstasy and had overdosed. The police also told doctors at the hospital that Brian had taken fifteen to seventeen ecstasy tablets, and later informed the State Pathologist that Brian had taken a large amount of drugs and alcohol. In reality, as subsequent tests showed, Brian Rossiter had no drugs or alcohol in his system. On the other hand, when admitted to hospital from police custody, the fourteen-year-old displayed symptoms consistent with having been punched or kicked in the groin.
Brian died.
A local man, Noel Hannigan, 25, was subsequently arrested and charged with assault causing harm for head-butting the child. When his case came to court, the police added an additional charge of manslaughter without consulting the Director of Public Prosecutions — a charge immediately withdrawn on the instructions of the DPP, who announced that it had been added without his approval.
The State Pathologist found on post mortem examination that Brian died of a slow haemorrhage, most likely caused by the assault, but was later contradicted by two British pathologists, who concluded that the child had died as a result of an injury inflicted while in police custody or immediately preceding his arrest, and not 36 hours earlier, when he was assaulted by Noel Hannigan.
Just over two years after his son was killed, while walking home with relatives, Pat Rossiter, was also arrested on public order charges — an increasingly common, and convenient, reason for arrest in Ireland. Interestingly, this arrest was made by the same policeman who had been in charge of the station the night young Brian died. Pat Rossiter was thrown into the same cell his son had died in, where he had to spend an entire tortured night. When his case came to court, the arresting guard told the court that he did not know who Mr Rossiter was when he arrested him, even though Mr Rossiter is a well-known taxi driver in the town. He also stated that he was unaware of the case Mr Rossiter had taken against an Garda Siochána. The Court threw out the case. Declaring that the charges were groundless, the Judge was highly critical of the Garda evidence against Mr Rossiter.
The Minister for Justice set up a statutory inquiry into the events surrounding the death of Brian Rossiter, but under a very restrictive and obscure piece of legislation that does not allow witnesses to be compelled, or provide protection against actions for defamation. Its terms of reference were severely limited, prompting this complaint from the Rossiters’ lawyer: the terms of reference for the Inquiry do not include an investigation of the cause of Brian Rossiter’s death. Neither is the inquiry tasked with forming an opinion on who killed Brian.
Here are the precise terms of reference:
That the arrest of Brian Rossiter of 11 Mount Prospect, Clonard, County Wexford in Clonmel on the 10th day of September 2002 was unlawful;
That the said Brian Rossiter was unlawfully assaulted during the course of his arrest and detention;
That the Criminal Justice Act 1984 (Treatment of Persons in Custody in Garda Síochána Stations) Regulations 1987 (S.I. No. 119/1987) were infringed in relation to the detention of the said Brian Rossiter
That the detention in Clonmel Garda Station of the said Brian Rossiter was unlawful;
That ambulance personnel, medical personnel and/or Dr. Marie Cassidy [State pathologist] were wrongfully given incorrect information concerning the consumption of alcohol and drugs by the said Brian Rossiter;
That all the circumstances of the death of the said Brian Rossiter were not fully investigated and all witnesses were not interviewed
Nothing there about who killed the child or how he was killed, you’ll notice.
Nevertheless, despite its shortcomings and limitations, the report is now complete and Pat Rossiter has received a copy.
I know what happened to my son, he says.
The family’s lawyer has written to the minister asking what will be done about “very serious findings against named gardai”.
The minister’s office has said that an abridged version of the report will be issued “within weeks” and I’ll have a lot more to say about that when it comes out.
_________________
Elsewhere:
Stumble it!
March 25th, 2008
This is horrendous by all accounts. I do hope there will be some form of justice in this. My thoughts are with the family.
March 25th, 2008
To Brian’s family. Hold strong, it will all come out as it must. I often think of Brian and his family. You are not forgotten by ordinary people. Brian was very special and nothing can change that. It will be put to rights. Best Wishes from a family in similar quagmire. You are not alone and never will be. Love …Pam Flynn, Dublin
March 25th, 2008
What a tragic mess. That poor family.
March 25th, 2008
Keep plugging away at this Bock. I just hope that, when the truth does comes out, those responsible are punished to the fullest extent of the law.
March 25th, 2008
I know a bit about Clonmel, not much, but a bit. There are some really unpleasant elements there. I am not for a moment suggesting that the Rossiters are among them. I have wondered on several occasions if nasty crooks and nasty lawmen go hand in hand. Does one cause the other? Which comes first?
March 25th, 2008
Andrew: that link was already in the post.
March 25th, 2008
Good post. I’m glad to see this hasn’t gone away.
I remember Vincent Browne raised questions in Village magazine on a number of occasions but, as I hadn’t heard any more about it, I thought it has been swept under the carpet.
Keep it up.
March 25th, 2008
Dear Bock
Good for you for making this public. How did you come to hear about it? There seems to be increasing incidents of children being hurt in police custody.
I look forward to reading the report when it comes out.
March 25th, 2008
The Gardai exists to protect the interests of the State, as it is an apparatus of the State. The only means of protecting citizens from the State is complete transparency and constant review of its apparatus’ actions, towards completing the most accurate narrative possible from which judgements can be made and reactions decided on. The narrative here is being driven by the Gardai and has been from the start and is based on obfuscation and presenting fallacy as fact. By limiting the terms of reference the State is providing gaps in the narrative that the Gardai can fill to its own end, which is at the very least self-protection and at worst the ability to abuse citizens as it sees fit.
Focussing on the particular demonstrates the general, which becomes a tool in arriving at the most accurate narrative possible. Where the State prohibits the necessary transparency, it becomes the job of the concerned individual to engineer a version of that transparency by demonstrating its absence, and you’re doing a damn good job on it Bock.
March 25th, 2008
I hadn’t read about this. An absolutely shocking story. But so familiar to anyone who knows what police forces get up to when they think nobody’s looking.
March 26th, 2008
Hi Bock
It’s link number 5 [What the media reported] on Lynch & Partners that’s awry.
http://tinyurl.com/2ke8qp
March 26th, 2008
This poor man has lost his son at a young age and the State will not even answer his questions,
What kind of Country are we living in?
March 26th, 2008
Hello, good reporting. may I suggest when the childs father or yourself bock has in hand the report, mail it to the university of chicago human rights law division and ask the class to look at it.I could almost gaurantee you that over 90 american law students would besiege the garda station and its supporting judisical system with quantifing questions regarding the murder and sheer neglect of the crime itself.They may not reslove anything for the family but they will certainly make a lot of noise.
March 26th, 2008
Thanks. That’s what I’ll do. Good idea.
April 11th, 2008
According to RTE today (April 11 2008) The inquiry found no evidence of him being assaulted at Clonmel Garda station. It also determined there was no evidence to suggest there was an attempt by gardaí to mislead medical personnel attending to Brian Rossiter with incorrect information. The full report will not be published for legal reasons.
Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan welcomed the report and said he accepted all its findings.
Eh? … what findings would they be?
April 12th, 2008
So the report said there was no evidence of assault by Gardai on Brian Rossiter.Well as there was no investigation either that probably explains why.The response of the Gardai to any accusation of wrongdoing on their part is always the same they lie character assassinate the victim his family and any witnessess.You would think a case like this would be treated with the utmost priority yet it was totally the opposite.They are like the priests were,more interested in protecting themselves than bothering about any possible child abusers or other criminals in their midst.I think the Gardai have reached the same stage that the RUC reached.They have to be disbanded and a new police force created.They cannot be allowed to carry on as they are.They are becoming a danger to society.
April 28th, 2008
Everyone knows who really done it…!!!!!
and its funny how some of the gardai who were there the night of brians death took early retirement
R.I.P Brian (Krusty) Rossiter x x x
July 28th, 2008
Again the level of corruption which in my experience is so common, is highlighted. Sadly our pathetic force has only come under pressure at the cost of a life.
Like has been said already, I would agree with a new force. As it is I really do hate the police for their constant wrong doing which can be seen, if you’re around the city, every day.
I would also like to express my symphaty to the Rossiter family. I know this case is old to some, myself somewhat included, but I do also know it’s fresh for you. Although you will never be fully compensated for such a loss, I wish you a successful outcome.