A 36-year-old mother of nine has lost her claim for damages after she sued the State for negligence over the death of her four- month-old baby who died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome just days after she was imprisoned for motoring offences.
Kathleen O'Driscoll, a member of the Traveller community who lives at Gaggin, Bandon, Co Cork, was suing the State following the death of her son, Thomas, who died on April 7th, 1999, while she was in Limerick Prison.
Yesterday at Cork Circuit Court, Pearse Sreenan, barrister for Ms O'Driscoll, said his client was suing the State over the distress and anxiety Ms O'Driscoll suffered as a result of being in custody when her baby died.
Mr Sreenan said Thomas died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. While his client could not claim that the State was responsible for Thomas's death, she believed that had she not been in prison but at home to care for her son, he would not have died.
Mr Sreenan said Ms O'Driscoll had been arrested on Good Friday, April 2nd, 1999, on a warrant arising out of convictions on April 3th, 1998, at Bandon District Court for three no-insurance and other motoring offences in May and July 1997.
Ms O'Driscoll told the court that when Garda Mary Galvin and Garda Noel Sexton arrived on April 2nd to execute the warrant, she told them she could not go because of Thomas, and she asked if she could bring him with her to Limerick Prison.
However, the gardaí told her that bringing him would be "a waste of time" as the Limerick Prison authorities would turn them away and they would have to come back to Cork.
She decided to leave Thomas at home and go with them "so as to get it over with".
Ms O'Driscoll said she learned in Limerick Prison that they did allow infants up to seven months old to stay with their mothers, but she did not think she could just get Thomas handed over to her when her husband, Willie, visited with him on April 5th and 6th.
Ms O'Driscoll, who later lost her four-year-old daughter, Noreen, when her husband accidentally reversed over her in a car on January 14th, 2000, said she was devastated by Thomas's death and had harmed herself several times by cutting herself and taking overdoses.
The court heard social worker Patricia O'Callaghan agree that Garda Galvin had always acted humanely with Ms O'Driscoll, but she believed that taking Ms O'Driscoll into custody on Good Friday made it difficult for Mr O'Driscoll to care for Thomas.
State counsel Kevin Cross SC said there was no evidence the State was responsible for Thomas's death, nor was there any evidence that Ms O'Driscoll's distress at his death was any greater because she was in custody.
Judge Patrick Moran said he was satisfied there was no evidence the State was responsible for the baby's death. He also believed there had been no duty on the gardaí to contact a social worker when executing the warrants.
