HAWE NOT CAUGHT WITH PORN, SAYS SCHOOL
Workplace says killer was not due to be disciplined
MURDERER Alan Hawe was not looking at pornographic websites or engaged in ‘inappropriate sexual activity’ at the workplace, his school has said. The school where Hawe worked as vice-principal released the statement to counteract a recent RTÉ programme which suggested that he had killed his family after his wrongdoing at the school was exposed.
The family of his late wife Clodagh recently told RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live that counselling notes indicated that ‘he was masturbating somewhere that he shouldn’t have been, possibly at the school’. She also said that there had been a conflict between Mr Hawe and a colleague in the months before he killed his wife and their three sons, before taking his own life.
Castlerahen National School released a statement yesterday denying claims that Mr Hawe had been caught ‘red-handed’, according to the Irish Times.
It also confirmed that staff at the school, including the principal, only became aware of Mr Hawe’s online activity when they were informed by the gardaí on December 2, 2016.
‘In response to specific school management queries, the gardaí have confirmed that there was no access to pornographic websites by Mr Hawe during the school day and further, no evidence has emerged of any inappropriate activity on the part of Mr Hawe during school time,’ the statement read. ‘Whilst there has been reference to Mr Hawe being caught “red-handed” in relation to some of his activities, we can state categorically that this has absolutely nothing to do with this school and did not happen on school premises.’
It went on to say that at no stage were there any disciplinary processes or other investigations instigated by the school regarding Mr Hawe.
The statement, released by a solicitor’s firm representing the school, added that these reports have caused a ‘great deal of stress in our school community and have reignited the emotions and trauma experienced at the time of this terrible tragedy’.
‘The broadcasts have damaged the reputation of school personnel whom, as you will appreciate, are easily identifiable in a small rural community. Their privacy has also been compromised by these reports.’
It concluded by offering ‘heartfelt sympathies’ to both that Coll and Hawe families.
Clodagh’s mother, Mary Coll and sister, Jacqueline Connolly gave a harrowing interview with Claire Byrne last month, relaying the details of how the family was murdered, and how they have been coping in the aftermath.
Jacqueline described Hawe’s actions as ‘evil’, and not the result of depression.
‘You would never think in a million years that a man like that could commit such brutality and evil. The evil that he created that night,’ she said.
The family also appealed during the interview for more information about the killings, claiming they still had questions unanswered. ‘We don’t know why, after a full investigation, we’re left with these questions,’ Jacqueline said.
‘We’ve requested the files from the gardaí and they’ve declined that request from our legal representative. But we feel that an injustice has been done to Clodagh and the boys.
She added: ‘And we feel that we need the truth, we need to know why they died, out of respect for them but to be able to have some peace of mind, we need these answers.’
‘Deal of stress in our school’