Murder‘photo-fit’ shockforSt. Senan’s

April 2, 1997

A ‘photo-fit’ picture shown on RTE’s Crimeline programme of a suspect in the brutal Grangegorman murders in Dublin sparked an alert at St. Senan’s Hospital in Enniscorthy.

The hospital authorities telephoned the gardaí in Enniscorthy after a strong resemblance between the crime suspect and a short-stay patient in the hospital was noted.

The man sought by gardaí was seen near the sheltered home of murder victims Sylvia Shields and Mary Callinan several times in the days before the killings on March 7.

The patient in St. Senan’s was informed of the resemblance by staff and immediately made himself available to the gardaí for interview.

‘ The person in question was anxious to present himself to the gardaí,’ said a hospital spokesperson. ‘He was very co-operative and wanted to have the matter cleared up.’

It is not clear whether the person was, in fact, questioned by the gardaí, but on Tuesday, a garda spokesman in Enniscorthy said it was most unlikely that anybody would be charged as a result.

A photofit picture of a suspect in the unsolved Grangegorman murders showed a striking resemblance to the hospital patient, who is similarly of thin build with long hair and a thick moustache.

A senior staff member who saw the picture brought it to the attention of the hospital authorities and a decision was taken to alert the gardaí because of a fear that the similarity might cause concern among other patients, staff or people in the community.

The hospital was anxious at the same time to protect the rights of the person involved and he was facilitated in having legal representation before presenting himself to the gardaí, according to the spokesman.

The CEO of the South Eastern Health Board, John Cooney, confirmed that the patient was discharged from the hospital last Thursday because it was felt that he ‘no longer needed assistance’.