No Justice for victim’s families

In previous blogs I talked about the issue that was dominating the news, that issue was of course devolution of policing and justice to Northern Ireland, whilst our politicians love to bang on about this subject to anybody that will listen it seems that the ordinary people of Northern Ireland don’t share the politicians enthusiasm on who has responsibility of our country’s policing and justice. At present Policing and justice matters remains the responsibility of the UK Government and Parliament at Westminster.

People of Northern Ireland would show more interest in this issue if politicians did their job better by demonstrating to people how this will have an effect on their lives and how it is significant to them, in the news this past week there has been a few examples of families who feel hard done by at a lack of justice, and these are regular people in terrible circumstances that anyone could find themselves in.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Harry Holland’s family attended a meeting with the British Attorney General Baroness Scotland, to protest against the sentences served out to the teenagers involved in Mr Holland’s death. Four teenagers were arrested for participation in his death, but the three that were charged received only sixteen years in jail between them.

On the Stephen Nolan radio show this week, Stephen spoke to Denise Brennan whose son David was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver in April this year. David was walking home when he was struck by a car, the driver of the car Andrew McGlinchey drove on and left David to die on the road, he later removed all number plates and badges from the car and set fire to it.

McGlinchey admitted causing death by careless driving with excess alcohol in his system, he also admitted failing to stop, remain, or report the accident. At Londonderry Magistrates Court he was sentenced to four and a half years, but he was told he would serve half his sentence in jail before being released on licence for the remainder of his sentence. He was also banned from driving for seven years.

Not many people who would describe these sentences as fair or just, but imagine how helpless the families of the victims must feel when these meagre sentences are handed down to the people that killed their loved ones. If responsibilities for policing and justice lay with the Northern Ireland Assembly, then our politicians here in Northern Ireland would be directly accountable to people like Harry Holland’s family, David Brennan’s family and the parents of Debbie McComb.

Debbie was a fifteen year old schoolgirl from west Belfast, she was brutally killed in March 2002 when a joy rider speeding in a stolen car ploughed into a group of people on the Upper Springfield Road, and she was flung into the air and carried on the bonnet for some distance along the road.

Harry Marley was driving the car and was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, he fought the charge every step of the way and never showed any remorse for killing Debbie, in fact members of her family said he mocked and abused them at various court appearances. At the time Marley had 58 convictions on his record he was sentenced to nine years for causing Debbie’s death and a further three years for a series of robberies he committed on the day of her death, Marley lodged an appeal which was unsuccessful.

Harry Marley received automatic remission so he only served six years of his sentence (four & half for Debbie’s death), he was released on licence in March 2008, then a year later on 24th March 2009, Marley and another man bought a car and while drunk they began joyriding around the Antrim Road, they were hanging out of the car shouting abuse and obscenities at passing schoolgirls and motorists. Police were called and the two men were arrested, Marley was convicted of six motoring offences including dangerous driving. Jailing Marley for four and a half years and imposing an 18 month probation order Judge Miller said

“The Court can not lose sight of the fact that this escapade took place in a very busy area of Belfast around eight o’clock in the morning and while people were heading to work and children were going to school.” “They had a minimum amount of control of the vehicle and within a short period of time the vehicle had lost its wheel, the consequences that could have followed from his actions could have well mirrored the actions of 2002.”

There are not many people in Northern Ireland that would say they are entirely happy with the judicial system in this country and surely the best way forward is to have the power for these matters held here in our own country, then the people could petition and appeal to the politicians when they feel justice has not been carried out sufficiently and they could demand changes in the laws. The families of Harry Holland, David Brennan and Debbie McComb all feel Justice was not carried out sufficiently and they all have unanswered questions but don’t know where to turn for answers.