Updated 17:40
Gardaí have opened up an internal investigation into the failure to enforce bail conditions on a man who was yesterday sentenced to 14 years for the repeated rape of a Spanish student in Dublin.
A Garda spokesperson this afternoon confirmed that Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy has been appointed to "examine the policing issues raised" following yesterday's sentencing of Dubliner, Eoin Berkeley.
The review will examine the communication between different Garda divisions in Dublin and "Garda monitoring of bail conditions of the convicted individual."
Berkeley, previously of Hamptonwood Way in Finglas, raped an 18-year-old Spanish student repeatedly after luring her to a tent at the old Irish Glass Bottle site in Ringsend in the summer of 2017.
He approached his victim in broad daylight on the Liffey boardwalk and offered to show her an Irish beach.
The student, who had only arrived in the country two weeks beforehand, agreed to go with him because she had never seen one.
Breach of bail
It emerged during the trial that Berkeley was in breach of his bail conditions at the time of the attack.
He had been barred from entering Dublin city centre as a condition of his release on bail as he awaited prosecution for an alleged homophobic attack on a Dublin nightclub.
He was cleared of the charges last February.
He was told in court that if he breached his bail conditions in any way he would find himself back behind bars
However, it later emerged that gardaí had seen him in the city centre a number of times in the weeks ahead of the attack.
The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Iveagh House, 02-11-2018. Image: RollingNews
Law reform
This afternoon, the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said he is open to a reform of Irish bail legislation if necessary.
"Legislation in this area is always under review," he said.
"If legislative change is necessary, I would be very happy to have a look at it.
"But it seems to me, at this stage, and I am speaking subject to the outcome of Assistant Commissioner Pat Leahy's review, it seems more in the area of practice and procedure.
"But I don't wish to pre-empt the outcome of Assistant Commissioner Leahy's review."
He warned that if the review throws up any "issues pertaining to the practice and procedure of An Garda Síochána they need to be dealt with."
Internal examination
This afternoon, a garda spokesperson said Assistant Commissioner Leahy had "been appointed to examine the policing issues raised during the court case which concluded yesterday with the conviction and sentencing of Eoin Berkeley."
"The Assistant Commissioner will examine issues such as communications between divisions in Dublin city centre and Garda monitoring of bail conditions of the convicted individual," she said.
"The review will establish the lessons to be learnt and whether changes to processes are needed."
Serious questions
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Noeline Blackwell, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said the Gardaí "investigated the case very thoroughly, very quickly and the case came to court [...] quite quickly by the standards of others cases."
However, she said the breach of bail raises a number of serious questions.
"The worry is, did it need to happen at all?" she asked.
"Was this a case where, if the bail conditions had been observed and if the garda noticing that the bail conditions were not being observed; if they had done something about it, would it have meant that this crime would not have happened at all?
"That has to be a concern.
"That a court would lay down conditions in relation to bail and that somebody would breach them. But more than that, that the Gardaí would know they were being breached and that no action would be taken."
Tragic consequences
Earlier this afternoon, the Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan said the conviction "once again highlights the dangers associated with the violation of bail conditions."
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that failure to enforce bail conditions has resulted in tragic consequences," he said.
"Fianna Fáil introduced legislation last year to make our bail laws stricter so that the presumption would be that a person who had already been convicted of a serious offence would not get bail if charged with another serious offence.
“The Irish people voted overwhelmingly for this by way of referendum in 1996. Unfortunately, the Government opposed this legislation. It needs to look again at this issue to recognise the public’s legitimate concerns and the need to strengthen our bail laws.
“Breaching conditions of bail must have immediate and serious consequences for people who disregard those conditions.
“If the State itself do not take bail terms seriously then it is difficult to expect those on bail to treat them seriously or abide by the conditions set out."
