2021 Munster abuse case

The condition of the house the family lived in amounted to squalor, and both of the parents, as well as the children, were repeatedly noted for being extremely dirty.

The seven who were accused are all relatives of the five children, and cannot be named due to Irish law surrounding the identification of minors involved in criminal proceedings.

A social worker appointed to work with the family in 2014 said that she thought that the parents understood what they were being told at case meetings concerning the care of the children.

Medics grew concerned for the children as they were dirty, overdressed for the hot weather, and, as was later discovered, were suffering from third-degree burns.

This meeting alarmed the social worker to such an extent that she opened a professional assessment of all five of the couple's children, who at the time were aged between one and six years old.

In December 2014, Tusla called a case conference, where a number of professionals such as teachers and medical practitioners assessed the needs of the children.

[1] In January 2016, the father of the children admitted to the social worker that he gave his children—in particular, his daughter—melatonin medication in order to make them "settle" at night.

[1] Thick, smelly, hairy blankets covered almost every surface in the house, and upon pulling one back, the social worker discovered a child—18 months old at the time—tightly strapped in a buggy.

[9] A general practitioner gave evidence at trial saying that the youngest of the children, who was 18 months old at the time of examination, was in the 0.4th percentile of weight for a child of his age.

[1] All of the children were placed in the care of experienced foster parents, several of whom later told the jury that they had never before seen neglect of the magnitude present in this case.

[11] According to the foster parents, the older children were unable to use cutlery, a toothbrush, or toilet roll, and did not know how to shower or bathe.

[1] His initial foster mother described how when he cried he would do so in total silence, making no noise as tears streamed down his face.

Due to social distancing measures in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, the trial was held in a conference room in Croke Park.

Having initially denied the allegations, part way through her fifth interview she began to tell Gardaí that she had witnessed her own mother, the children's grandmother, sexually assaulting the girl.

[2] The mother's sister, who was later found guilty of sexually assaulting the girl, likewise initially denied the allegations, before later saying that what the children were reporting was correct.

[2] In the absence of the jury, the court was told that the grandmother of the children confessed to Gardaí about having sexually assaulted her granddaughter, saying "I only did it the once [...] I think you know, there's no point in lying.

Having only been mentioned in the children's second Garda interviews, Mr Condon urged the jury not to treat him as an "afterthought" in this case, as the young girl in particular had described "in great detail" what this uncle had done to her.

[17] On 17 December, defence counsel for both the 27-year-old uncle and the 49-year-old-uncle moved to have the guilty verdicts set aside in wake of the contents of the letter.

Conor Devally, senior counsel representing the 27-year-old uncle, expressed the possibility that a number of the verdicts may be "unfair or tainted".

[18] He further referred to cases heard before the European Court of Human Rights, in which verdicts given under similar circumstances have been set aside.

[18] Bernard Condon stated that it was the Director of Public Prosecutions'(DPP) view that the trial judge had no jurisdiction to set aside verdicts in the case, nor any authority to contact and question jurors‍— that any objections would have to be heard before the Court of Appeal.

[18] On 21 December, Mr Justice McDermott stated that he was satisfied the letter from the juror did not contain evidence which would suggest that impropriety had taken place and could not be used by him, as trial judge, as a basis for any inquiry, agreeing with the DPP that it was the business of the Court of Appeal.

[21] His siblings' statements, also written, were both two sentences long: the girl saying that her parents had "ruined [her] childhood and didn't even care about [her].

The boy reportedly couldn't understand that the kitchen was so full of food, and would "proudly show off the contents of the fridge" to any visitors to the house.

The foster parents stated that it seemed as though the kids had never been toilet trained, and that they had massive issues with food—seemingly, the children could not identify when they were hungry, or control the amount that they ate.

For the first few weeks of their time in foster care, the children often tried to hide in various locations, such as under the stairs, beneath tables, and in the hot press.

[23] A second trial, concerning the abuse of another child who was related to the five siblings, terminated in March 2022 when all charges against the accused were dropped.

Of the two youngest boys, their foster parents said that they "want to say that these children have a lot of potential, but because of their early life experiences, we worry as to what the future holds for them.

"[22] In 2018, a review of the actions taken by Tusla and An Garda Síochána in respect to this case was proposed by Katherine Zappone, then the Minister for Children.

Though it underwent several months of preparation, the review was eventually cancelled due to concerns from the Attorney General that it might jeopardize the trial.