‘Dire’ justice system that delays cases for years harms victims says Commissioner Designate

Connla Young, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish News, January 29th, 2025

THE north’s justice system has been branded “dire” amid calls for tougher sentencing and concerns that victims of crime continue to be ‘harmed’ by the slow pace of progress says Victims of Crime Commissioner Designate Geraldine Hanna in a damning interview as Stormont justice chiefs continue to draw up new sentencing laws.

Appointed in June 2022, the commissioner provides support to victims of serious crime and is responsible for a series of functions, including reviewing the effectiveness of law and practice.

The office, which is not yet on a statutory footing, also monitors outcomes and makes recommendations when needed.

The majority of people who engage with the commission are the victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and hate crime, along with murder or manslaughter.

The justice system in the north is known to work at a painfully slow pace, with serious cases often taking years to make their way through the court system.

Ms Hanna has extensive experience in helping victims of crime and is a former chief executive of Victim Support NI.

She currently attends meetings of the Criminal Justice Board, which brings together leading experts including senior police officers and members of the judiciary.

With more than two decades working in the victims sector, Ms Hanna is in little doubt as to the impact the current system has on those impacted directly by crime.

“The sad reality is the longer you are in our system the more likely it is that you are going to have been harmed by it in some way, delay being the key issue and obviously that’s a key issue for us,” she said.

“There’s a series of work going on at the Criminal Justice Board to address that.

“The fact that the dire state that the system is in is due to the fact that we haven’t sufficiently resourced it, particularly the last decade.”

The commissioner believes that both a lack of funding and dysfunctional political system are at fault.

“And since devolution it has continued to be the poor relation, and we are seeing the impact of that now,” she said.

“It’s partly down to resources but also linked to the pace of change here and the fact we’ve had a stopstart government.

“The reform that’s needed in the justice system has been very slow in coming around.”

Ms Hanna, who has regular contact with victims, said they believe the current structures cause further damage.

“What we are seeing now and what I am hearing from victims of crime is a system that is causing them further harm, a system they didn’t realise was as bad until they entered it,” she said.

A common cause of complaint within the victims sector is the length of time it takes to get a case in to court.

Official figures show that in 2023/24, the average time taken for a charge case to be dealt with at Crown Court was 551 days, while the average for a summons case was 1,199 days.

The figure for sexual offences over the same timeframe was 675 days – the longest for any offence category.

The victims expert believes the system is damaged, which in turn has wider implications.

“The reality is that if the criminal justice system isn’t working effectively we are not going to have a safe society,” she said.

Ms Hanna said it was “in all our best interests” to have a court set-up that operates effectively.

“But the length of time those cases are talking is obviously making that more difficult and increasing the risks,” she said.

“So, delay is a big issue for us.” The commissioner designate said while the hold-up in getting cases into courts was made worse by Covid, it continues to cause concern.

“What that means is victims are waiting longer for their cases to be heard and what inevitably happens is individuals are further traumatised… particularly those more serious offences, people are waiting for that, it’s part of their journey,” she said.

“I don’t think anybody returns to normal after a serious crime type like that, but they adjust to a new normal – but they can’t do that until the case gets to court.

“The actual process of being in court, around disclosure, around victims’ access to their personal information, particularly sexual violence cases, causes further harm and distress to victims.”

Ms Hanna said she is also “hearing significant concerns being raised around sentencing” and that the forthcoming sentencing bill will provide an “opportunity for our assembly to address some of our failings regarding our sentencing framework in Northern Ireland”.

The Bill, which is expected to be introduced in the autumn, is a “priority” for Ms Hanna.

She has raised concerns about the sentencing approach by members of the judiciary in the north, which operates under different guidelines than counterparts in England and Wales.

Those nations have a Sentencing Council, which develops guidance for judges.

In the north this guidance is developed by case law at Crown Courts and involves a more complicated process.

“I would say that judges here are very much wedded to their case law model compared to England and Wales, where they have a Sentencing Council,” she said.

Ms Hanna believes the north should also have a sentencing structure in place that provides clarity to members of the judiciary.

“I appreciate that a Sentencing Council would take resources, but what I think we need to be looking at, particularly when we have sentencing under scrutiny under the upcoming bill – what can we do more to get us closer to the level of transparency and clarity that we can see coming from the likes of England and Wales, even Scotland?

“Can we get closer to that here and how do we do that?”

Ms Hanna said there is also a perception of leniency in the north’s justice system.

“I think that particularly in recent years we are seeing a disparity between the level of sentence that you would get for offences in England and Wales versus what you are getting here in Northern Ireland,” she said.

“And that’s not necessarily the case that you will get more in England and Wales… it’s more that the level of sentences being arrived at here by the judges on face value to the public, or to victims, seem less.”

Ms Hanna also believes that an ‘early guilty plea’, which is designed to encourage those who intend to admit their guilt do so early in the process, requires an overhaul.

As the system currently stands, if a guilty plea is entered at arraignment, when a guilty or not guilty plea must be entered, the accused can receive a maximum of one-third off their sentence.

However, a guilty plea between then and the first day of trial can result in a reduction of between one-third and one-quarter of the sentence.

Ms Hanna points out that in some cases, particularly sexual and domestic violence, the longer it takes a case to get to court the more likely the victim will withdraw.

This possibility of collapse provides an incentive for culprits to draw out proceedings.

Ms Hanna highlights that rather than achieve the aim of an early plea, an accused can in effect “ride both horses” in the knowledge they will still receive a quarter reduction in their sentence for a late plea.

In England and Wales, the system allows for a one-third reduction for an early guilty plea, with just a 10 percent cut available for an admission for a plea on the first day of trial.

Ms Hanna believes there needs to be a “shift” in the approach taken in the north.

“I think we need to legislate for a sliding scale reduction for early guilty pleas because we are seeing sentences that don’t match up to similar in England and Wales, and this is a way for us to help ensure that it’s fair,” she said.

“Sentencing needs to be fair and for victims of crime this doesn’t seem fair.”

The commissioner said those intent on manipulating the system must be discouraged.

“We still have all these people pleading on the day, and what often happens as well for victims of sexual violence in particular, the defendant might wait to see do they show up,” she said.

“Again, you want to discourage that behaviour.”

She strongly believes legislation needs to change and has raised the matter with Justice Minister Naomi Long.

Ms Hanna also wants to see the issue of character references for people facing serious charges to be addressed.

In the past, such references have been controversial.

Earlier this week, Derry-based SDLP councillor Brian Tierney quit the party after it emerged he provided a court reference for Kielan Mooney, who was recently convicted of rape in a Dublin court.

Similar controversies have previously surfaced in the north’s courts.

In 2013 former Tyrone manager Mickey Harte faced criticism after providing a character reference for a man who admitted sexually assaulting a woman.

“I don’t see what relevance prior good character or post good character following committing these offences have on sentencing in a case,” Ms Hanna said.

She added that presenting references to courts for those guilty of crimes is offensive to victims.

“What we know is perpetrators of domestic violence and sexual violence will often tell their victim that no-one will believe them if they tell,” she said.

“Then to have got as far as court, got a conviction, and then having someone writing in… it’s an insult.

“I don’t see what purpose it serves, so why are we doing it?

“I think we need to remove that as an option for people to do, I don’t see what benefit it bringing to our system.”

Ms Hanna added that the current system causes “harm”.

“It does cause, unfortunately, further harm, trauma, to victims,” she said.

“We should be doing everything in our power that removes unnecessary trauma, just like with delay.

“It’s always going to take a time for the case to get to court but we should be doing everything in our power to remove avoidable delay.”

Minister Long said she aims to introduce the sentencing bill in the autumn.

“I intend to make important changes on a range of sentencing issues, including sentencing for assaults on those providing a service to the public or performing a public duty, sentencing for attacks on vulnerable victims, and increasing maximum penalties and driving disqualification periods for offences causing death by driving,” she said.

“The bill will also include provisions creating Charlotte’s Law, which aims to encourage killers to reveal how and where they disposed of their victims’ remains in ‘no body’ cases, as well as a statutory aggravation model for hate crimes

Five key questions the Omagh probe needs to answer

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, January 29th, 2025

The long-awaited Omagh Bomb Inquiry has begun with a series of commemorative hearings telling the harrowing stories of the victims and revealing the true impact of the atrocity on their families.

A series of key questions will need to be answered for the inquiry to determine whether or not the Real IRA atrocity and the worst single terror attack in NI could have been prevented by UK security services.

How did the policy of 'security normalisation' contribute to the scale of the Omagh bombing?

After the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and following decades of conflict, all political parties were keen to move to a more normal security setting.

Lead counsel for the inquiry Paul Greaney KC raised questions over the policy and said its impact would be an “important consideration”.

The inquiry will seek to establish whether a more stringent security policy may have prevented the attack.

Did police investigating terrorist activity have access to sufficient intelligence from previous attacks to thwart Omagh?

Giving evidence to the NI Affairs Select Committee in November 2009, former Senior Investigating Officer Norman Baxter alleged investigators into previous attacks did not have access to enough intelligence.

Those investigating attacks earlier in 1998 — Moira (February 20), Lisburn (April 30), Portadown (May 9) and Banbridge (August 1) may not have been privy to information which could have helped disrupt the activities of the Real IRA.

This allegation forms part of the Inquiry's terms of reference.

Could intelligence have been better shared between UK and Irish authorities?

Also forming part of the terms of reference is the suggestion that there was inadequate information-sharing procedures between authorities in both jurisdictions.

There are concerns that information relating to dissident republican terrorists involved in attacks from December 1, 1997, had not been communicated.

Was information relayed by an alleged British agent passed on to the relevant authorities?

Info relating to dissident republican terrorist activity was said to have been passed to police by an alleged British security forces agent known by the name Kevin Fulton between June and August 1998. The inquiry will examine if that information may have reasonably enabled the UK authorities to disrupt terror activities in the run-up to the Omagh bomb.

Should the Irish Government be doing more to help investigate the Omagh bombing?

The perpetrators travelled across the border from the Republic of Ireland ahead of the devastating blast.

The judge who ordered the UK Government to set up an Inquiry also urged the Irish Government to establish its own probe.

Ministers in Dublin decided against holding a separate inquiry but pledged to work with the UK one.

Families' horrific and moving tales of lost loved ones is chance to close the open wounds

Analysis, Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph, January 29th, 2025

The words of Paloma Abad Ramos put paid to any idea of the glory or glamour of violence. The brutal, ruthless reality of our conflict was laid bare for all to hear in the first day of evidence in the Omagh bomb inquiry.

It has been set up to establish whether the security services could have prevented the atrocity in which 29 people died.

Paloma brought light, laughter and tears to the room as she talked about her sister Rocio — nicknamed 'Peke', meaning 'little one' — because she was the youngest.

Rocio had fallen head over heels in love with Ireland, and had visited five times.

Initially, she wasn't impressed with the food and joked that there was “butter and peas everywhere”. But she grew to love Irish cuisine, exchanging recipes with the many friends she made here.

Rocio was a talented sportswoman. She was a Spanish long jump champion. She was intelligent too, winning a university scholarship. The 23-year-old had “a world of possibilities ahead of her”, Paloma said.

When their parents waved goodbye to Rocio at Madrid Airport, they never suspected it would be the last time they'd see her alive.

She was a team leader for a group of Spanish students on a language-exchange programme. They were staying in Buncrana, Co Donegal, but crossed the border to visit the Ulster American Folk Park.

They had stopped in Omagh town centre for some Saturday afternoon shopping when the 500lb Real IRA car bomb exploded.

Paloma recalled visiting the morgue. “I saw my sister with a sheet on top. I had the idea in that moment that I wanted to touch her foot, to pray together,” she said.

“When I touched, there was nothing underneath. I went to look for her knee, the leg. It was empty.

“Then I went to look for the arm, the body. It was empty. And only when I reached the head did I touch my sister. There were no arms, no legs, no body — only her head.”

Paloma described the inquiry as “the only support” her family have had in “many, many years”. She hoped that all their unanswered questions would finally be addressed “in a thorough and robust manner”.

Her family hungered for the truth. “I want to thank you, the inquiry, for this opportunity because you are allowing us to close a wound that has been open for 26 years,” she added.

The fact that the inquiry is being held is due largely to the perseverance of one man. “I began campaigning for this when I was 49,” said Michael Gallagher. “There were many setbacks along the way, and I'm 75 years old now.

“It was a rough day listening to Paloma's testimony. It was very graphic, the detail was shocking. We've been sheltered from it for years.

“This is at last the unadulterated voice of victims.

“It tells the savage reality of what happens when a bomb is placed in a busy town centre. There were tears in every eye in the room when Paloma was speaking.

“This was only the first day. I know that another difficult three weeks lie ahead, but it has to be done.”

Michael will give evidence next Tuesday about his 21-year-old son Aiden. A mechanic, he went into town to buy a pair of boots and jeans. He bought the boots first, and returned to put them in the car rather than carry them around. The shop in which he bought the jeans was beside the car bomb.

The Gallaghers still have those boots. They sit in their bag at the bottom of the wardrobe. Michael plans to be at the inquiry every minute of every day.

“I want the truth for Aiden and all the victims of this atrocity.”

Omagh was an illustration of the soft UK response to Irish republican mass murderers

Editorial: News Letter, January 29th, 2025:

The inquiry into whether or not the Omagh bomb could have been prevented opened yesterday.

It will start by hearing testimony of those impacted by the real IRA atrocity.

This is a reminder of the outcome of the blast, the worst of the Troubles but only one of a long line of republican terrorist car bombs in which so many civilians were slaughtered, with so few of the mass murdering perpetrators held to account.

The terms of reference of the probe seem to have been drawn in a way that will prevent this turning into a process against the security forces, as some people are happy to steer such probes.

We know the reprehensible sectarian men who carried out the massacre, such as that semi illiterate thug Colm Murphy, helped by vile thugs such as Seamus McKenna and Michael McKevitt. Only in the UK would such loathsome mass murderers be treated as softly as were these men, in the long tradition of British softness towards Irish murderers.

It will be the final betrayal of legacy if this process emerges with so much as a hint that the RUC were significantly to blame for the work of these terrorists.

Meanwhile, we have daily reminders of a parallel scandal: that of Ireland being able merely to pledge that it will “fully co-operate with the probe”, thus co-operating only as it sees fit. At the same time yesterday, Simon Harris was able to, in effect, dictate NI’s legacy structures by talking about when they will drop their legal action against the UK.

Why aren’t the Tories and Reform highlighting daily the weakness of Hilary Benn and Keir Starmer towards Ireland? The state that harboured IRA mass murderers for 30 years, by almost never extraditing them, has the audacity to sue the UK on legacy, and demands the legacy structures be reformed, which in effect means in a way that will keep the focus on UK security forces.