THE FATHER of Clonmel schoolboy Brian Rossiter yesterday told the inquest on his son that a detective told him that Brian had taken 15 or 16 ecstasy tablets after he rushed to hospital upon hearing that the boy had taken ill in Clonmel Garda station.
But Pat Rossiter said that toxicology tests subsequently carried out at Brian's postmortem showed no evidence of any drugs in his system, while whatever alcohol he had consumed had passed through his system.
Mr Rossiter told how he had got a phone call on the morning of September 11th, 2002, from Det Garda Daniel Quinlan to come to Clonmel Garda station because his son Brian was "shaking out", which he took to mean that Brian was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
He was just leaving his apartment when Det Garda Quinlan rang again and told him not to bother going to the station but to go immediately to St Joseph's, now South Tipperary General Hospital, but he didn't give any indication of what was wrong with Brian.
Mr Rossiter told Cork City Coroner's Court how he met a detective outside the hospital and he told him that Brian was not awake. "He mentioned an ecstasy overdose and an amount of ecstasy and he told me that it wasn't looking good," said Mr Rossiter.
Later questioned by his barrister, Aidan Doyle, Mr Rossiter said that he remembered a figure of ''15 or 16 ecstasy tablets" being mentioned by gardaí and when he questioned a nurse in the emergency room about what happened, she also mentioned an ecstasy overdose.
"I had a sense of something being wrong because of the amount of drugs I was being told that he had taken.
"I remember saying that if a horse or an elephant had taken that amount, they wouldn't be standing, and she said, 'We have to go on what the gardaí tell us'," he said.
Mr Rossiter said Det Garda Quinlan had contacted him the previous night to say Brian had been arrested and he had called to Clonmel Garda station where he met Det Garda Quinlan and Garda Gerry Canty and was told Brian was on a four- or five-day drink and drugs binge.
He found that hard to believe as he had met Brian, who had moved to Wexford with his mother just two weeks previously, two days earlier when he had come back to Clonmel for the weekend and he saw no evidence of him having taken drink or drugs.
Mr Rossiter said that Det Garda Quinlan and Garda Canty had a debate about what to do with Brian and Garda Canty mentioned that he couldn't stay in the station but Det Garda Quinlan said there was one way he could stay in the station - if Mr Rossiter signed a consent form.
Mr Rossiter said he was in a state of disbelief about what he was hearing about his son but he thought that detaining him overnight might be "a bit of a shock to the system" for him and he went upstairs with Det Garda Quinlan to an office to sign a consent form.
He said he spoke to his wife, Siobhán, over the phone and there was "a slight breakdown in communication" between them.
He agreed to sign a statement consenting to Brian's detention but he took issue with several parts of the statement when it was read out in court.
Mr Rossiter said that he never said his son was out of control or that he was in constant trouble with gardaí but Det Garda Quinlan later rejected this and said that he read the statement back to Mr Rossiter and Mr Rossiter signed it.
The inquest continues today.
