Inspiring bravery of a family in real agony

TO those of us in Ireland who followed the trial of Andrew Doan, accused of the murder of Cork native Charles McCarthy, the verdict in the case last week seem beyond explanation.

Mr McCarthy, a father of children aged just five and three, had no part in the argument that began between his friend Jason Curran and Mr Doan, who had been fishing.

It was Mr Doan who left the riverbank with a screwdriver, rather than Mr McCarthy moving towards him, and it was Mr Doan’s screwdriver that pierced Mr McCarthy’s skull, killing him.

Yet despite these facts, a jury in Perth, Western Australia, cleared Mr Doan of both murder and manslaughter – meaning that in legal terms, nobody was responsible for Mr McCarthy’s death.

For his family, the jury’s decision came as a shattering blow. It was bad enough to lose a beloved son and brother in such appalling circumstances, leaving his wife a widow and his children fatherless. But to then be further told that his death was nobody’s fault can only have heaped further agony on this already-indescribable loss.

Of course, anyone who was not present in court cannot know why the jurors reached their verdict, and ultimately we must accept that our shared system of trial by jury is the least worst form of justice yet invented. All we can do in such a situation is show our solidarity and compassion for Mr McCarthy’s family. Today, they speak angrily about the verdict, and their belief that justice was not served, but they also speak eloquently and movingly about a much-loved family man, a devotee of the GAA, a doting husband and father, a loving son and brother.

Amidst their grief, they pay powerful testament to a man whose life was cut cruelly short – and help ensure that his legacy as a son, brother, husband and father will not be forgotten.

Furthermore, they also carry another powerful message. Even in the throes of their anguish, Mr McCarthy’s family agreed to allow his organs to be donated. Today, his sister Sinéad reveals that they received a letter at Christmas from the man whose life was saved when he received Mr McCarthy’s transplanted heart. Such nobility in grief is a testament to the entire family, and while it may not assuage their pain, it is heartening for us all to know that some good came of this terrible tragedy. It is too soon to know whether any legal remedies may yet be open to Mr McCarthy’s family, but in the meantime we are in no doubt that the people of his home country will keep his family in our thoughts – and hold them all in our hearts.