Today, what judge would allow a senior garda describe a young woman as somebody with “loose morals”, as the then head of the Garda murder squad John Courtney did at the tribunal set up to probe how he and his colleagues had conducted a murder investigation into a dead baby whose body was washed ashore in south Kerry with 28 stab wounds?
Back then, people, and especially those from modest circumstances, were expected to know their place, particularly if they came up against the intimidating and arcane world of Ireland’s legal profession.In April 1984, Joanne Hayes was living at home in the village of Abbeydorney with her mother, sister, two brothers and an aunt. Her family helped her to rear her daughter from a relationship with a married man.
It seemed like an open-and-shut case. However, the blood groups of Joanne Hayes and her lover did not match those of baby John. The gardaí pursued their case, initially dismissing Joanne’s request to search the farm in Abbeydorney for the body of her baby. When her baby’s body was eventually discovered, the Garda case was in big trouble.
To dispute the blood findings, the gardaí introduced the superfecundation theory: she had given birth to twins with two different fathers.Martin Kennedy, the barrister representing senior gardaí, set out to portray Joanne as a woman who might well have had two lovers at the same time and given birth to twins.
The judge agreed to an adjournment. She leapt off the witness stand and ran out of the room, down the corridor to the toilet, where she vomited. A doctor was called to attend to her.Ireland, 1984: A year of fierce debates and ‘mounting evils’Kennedy suggested her married lover had never said he would leave his wife for her. “He did say it,” she replied. “When did he say it?,” she was asked. “He said he would go away with me eventually,” she replied.
Not quite. Gerard Hutch's trial is heard by a non jury court and key evidence accepted from a criminal with motives to save himself. Whether Hutch is innocent or not is not the issue, Hayes and Hutch share one thing, the state employs immoral tactics to achieve a desired outcome.
I remember it, the treatment she got was beyond reprehensible in a civilised society. It was curtain twitching click bait stuff you'd see on the worst of social media channels today. It was vile, depraved & disgraceful.
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Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »
Source: IrishTimes - 🏆 3. / 98 Read more »