Report on investigation into death of Shane Tuohey critical of gardaí and family

A Government-commissioned report on the adequacy and conduct of an investigation into the death of Shane Tuohey in Clara, Co Offaly 22 years ago has upheld some of the family’s complaints but also criticised the behaviour of Shane’s father, Eamon.

Established in 2017 by the then minister for justice, Frances Fitzgerald, under Section 42 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 the Special Inquiry was initially conducted by retired judge Donagh McDonagh before being taken over by retired judge Michael Coghlan.

It was established in response to persistent criticism by the Tuohey family of the handling by An Garda Síochána of the search for the 23-year-old who drowned in the early hours of February 2nd, 2002 after a night out socialising. His body was found in the river Brosna seven days later.

The family was also deeply critical of the subsequent investigation and inquest. They believed Shane had been assaulted before his death. Some local gardaí had expressed a belief he had died by taking his own life.

[ State investigation follows long struggle by Shane Tuohey’s family ]

The report, which was sent to the Minister for Justice last year but only published on Friday, was completed after interviews with 50 witnesses, including 28 who were gardaí at the time of Tuohey’s death. Tuohey’s father, Eamon, was also among the interviewees, providing evidence over a day and a half.

Judge Coghlan found that of 33 complaints or observations, nine were well-founded. The latter included complaints regarding the conduct of gardaí during the initial search, the preservation of the scene after Shane’s body was found, comments made by a number of gardaí and the preparation of the inquest witness list by An Garda Síochána.

However, he found the majority of complaints made had been of “little merit and in some instances [were] without any foundation”.

He was also deeply critical of some of the family’s actions, particularly those of Shane’s father, Eamon, who he said had effectively run a parallel investigation to the one being conducted by the Garda into his son’s death. The judge said this was “counterproductive” in that it alienated witnesses and yielded unreliable evidence.

Overall, Judge Coghlan found that the Garda investigation had been “thorough” and that when follow-up inquiries were taken into account, an investigation that could be characterised as “highly professional and comprehensive in nature” had been completed by 2006.

The period immediately after Shane’s disappearance was said to have included ‘a series of errors of judgement’ on the part of gardaí

He described the conduct of the initial search as “haphazard”, however, and said some of the comments made by individual gardaí in relation to Shane’s death were “unprofessional and gratuitous”.

He criticised the gardaí for allowing the family to be involved in the initial search, something that was contrary to their own guidelines, and for the level of involvement they were allowed to have in the official investigation, suggesting they indulged them because they were grieving.

The period immediately after Shane’s disappearance was said to have included “a series of errors of judgment” on the part of gardaí.

He said the family’s behaviour was “highly inappropriate”, however, and that a parallel investigation led by Shane’s father Eamon was of “no help and served to further distract and destabilise” the work of the Garda.

He rejected family criticism of the postmortem carried out by then-state pathologist Professor John Harbison, whose conduct was reviewed for the report by another former state pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy.

He accepted the family had raised valid issues in relation to the gathering and storage of CCTV evidence but said a review of the footage had ultimately found it to be “valueless”.

Judge Coghlan concluded that “the failure of An Garda Síochána to establish a crime, much less to identify a culprit, in no way condemned the adequacy of the lengthy and complication investigations that followed the death of Shane Tuohey”.

The family, who had been calling for publication of the report, had been critical of what they regarded as their exclusion from the process and lack of legal representation. They have repeatedly called for a new inquest, saying new evidence is available.