The violent death of an Irish holidaymaker in the Canaries has not been properly investigated, his mother tells Anne Dempsey.
On May 13th next, Daniel O'Callaghan's family will mark the second anniversary of his death while still not knowing how or why he died. Daniel (24) was found lying severely injured in a lane in Playa del Inglés, Gran Canaria, in April 2003 and died in hospital in Las Palmas two and a half weeks later. His parents, Maeve Pomeroy and Denis O'Callaghan, continue to make representations through government, diplomatic and legal channels to have the case pursued by the Spanish police, and also wish to alert other families to the potential dangers for young people holidaying abroad in sun resorts.
Over the next few months, thousands of Leaving Certificate students will celebrate their rite of passage by heading off to popular Mediterranean playgrounds.
"Typically, you're warned against sunburn and timeshare, but our experience points to the fact that parents and young people should be aware of very different dangers," says Maeve Pomeroy.
Daniel and three friends arrived at the resort on Saturday evening, April 26th, 2003, left their bags in their apartment, went for a meal and then on to some pubs and clubs. Sometime later they found themselves in a lap-dancing club and were asked to pay €50 per drink. Daniel objected, which led to an altercation that, his friends reported, left him panicky and afraid.
"Daniel was neither argumentative nor aggressive. We would have seen him as calm, confident, streetwise. He managed a phone shop, he dealt with the public on a regular basis, was more likely to separate people who got into a fight rather than start anything, though he would stand up for himself if he suspected a rip-off. If he was left feeling frightened, then we believe some very serious threat must have been made," says his mother.
The night continued but at some point the group became separated, so it was the next morning before it was discovered that Daniel's bed had not been slept in. When he failed to return, his friends contacted the police. They were told that a young tourist had been found seriously injured beside their apartment in the early hours of Sunday morning and was in intensive care. They went to the hospital and identified Daniel, by now on life-support.
Late that Sunday night, his family in Rathmines, Dublin, got the phone call that every parent dreads. Daniel was the eldest in the family and there are two younger sisters.
"We were very shocked but initially didn't understand the seriousness," says Daniel's mother. "Later, when we finally got through to the hospital, we learnt that Daniel was gravely ill and may not survive. We asked his friends to stay with him until we arrived, so that he would not die alone."
"When we arrived on Monday night, Daniel was deeply unconscious with two big black eyes. His face was very swollen and he had a severe skull fracture. We were told he may die, he could recover, or he could survive and be in a vegetative state, but we said even if they could do that, we would be happy to have him.
"We kept vigil. He was our complete focus. We talked to him, we held his hand, exhorting him to do his best and to fight. At some stage I think I said: 'If you can't recover, Dan, that's all right, you don't have to fight.' Some days later he died naturally, sparing us from the decision of stopping life-support."
Meanwhile, the family was receiving conflicting police accounts of the circumstances that led to their son's injuries. Information that he had been mugged was later contradicted. They were told there were no witnesses, other than the motorcyclist who had found Daniel, phoned the police and ambulance, and stayed until both arrived. This man was briefly suspected of running Daniel over, but was later cleared.
The family was further disconcerted to find that the crime scene had neither been cordoned off nor preserved, that Daniel's apartment had not been searched, that his clothing and possessions had not been sought for forensic examination, and that they had remained unexamined even after the family had delivered them. When the body finally came home for burial, a post-mortem by State pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy showed that the cause of death had been a head injury due to blunt force trauma, with a fracture on skull and forehead.
So, shocked and sorrowful, the family was left with many unanswered questions in the weeks following Daniel's death. They could still be completely in the dark had it not been for a chance encounter which led them to an eyewitness, an Irish holidaymaker staying in Daniel's apartment complex, who subsequently made a statement to the Garda Síochána.
In it, he says, he heard screaming below at 4.10am on the morning concerned. Looking out, he saw a man being pursued and running towards the Irish Rover pub across the road. The pursuer had his arm stretched out near the running man's shoulder and seemed to have something in his hand. The witness heard something like a shot, and the first man fell and hit the ground hard. There were, he says, other people in the lane at the time.
Documentary evidence reveals that despite requests, the Spanish police have not interviewed this witness, nor did they take statements from other potential witnesses staying in the complex, where 100 balconies overlooked the lane. To date, the only people interviewed by the Spanish authorities have been ambulance staff, the motorcyclist, the manager of the lap-dancing club and Daniel's three friends.
At Daniel's inquest in January this year, a verdict of unlawful killing was returned. Chief Supt Noel White, then with the National Bureau of Investigation, who took statements in Ireland and subsequently travelled to Gran Canaria, said at the inquest that he had brought all the information gathered to the attention of the Spanish police, and would himself have investigated the matter as a murder. Over the past two years, a number of high-level Irish representations have been made to the Spanish authorities to pursue their investigations, but none of these has so far borne fruit.
"We believe the fact that Daniel appeared to have been threatened, and subsequently fatally injured on the same night about five minutes' walk away from the place of threat would point to the need for a rigorous investigation," says Maeve Pomeroy. "We have documentary evidence that this has not taken place."
Does she believe that Daniel's tourist status affected the quality of the investigation?
"There certainly seems to be the perception that tourists are always intoxicated, always lager louts, always fighting," she says. "We believe that no honest effort was made to investigate this crime, which means that the perpetrator is left in a secure position to reoffend."
Last month a 21-year-old Scandinavian tourist was murdered in Playa del Inglés, near where Daniel met his death. Maeve Pomeroy says that what happened to Daniel is salutary for all young people going to such resorts.
"If a crime occurs and there is no investigation or punishment, then young tourists are seriously at risk," she says. "Many are only Leaving Cert age and very vulnerable. As a doctor" - she is a consultant radiation oncologist - "I am dedicated to promoting health and well-being. I feel I have a duty to speak out, as this is not just a question of emotional closure for us, it's an issue of public safety. We feel young people should be told it is important not to become intoxicated as it can leave them particularly vulnerable to crime.
"You should not go out at night on your own. We have heard since that there is a high incidence of theft in the resort, including attacks at knife-point. Drugs are freely available and there is a certain amount of random violence.
"Since Daniel's death we've been back and walked the area at the time he was attacked, between 3am and 4am. It is very different at night-time. There were lots of people about, women openly soliciting, many ofthem looking like they are on drugs. It was very unsavoury, with no police presence at all. The real issue is that the policing of the area is inadequate at least. In saying this, we are not being racist. We've had happy holidays in Spain. We have no antipathy to the Spanish people, we had great support there after Daniel's death. People at the hotel couldn't do enough for you, and while the hospital had a rather strict visiting policy, they were very helpful also."
The family would like to see the Department of Foreign Affairs put in place a set of protocols to help families when a member dies tragically abroad. Such protocols could offer financial, legal and emotional support, and help with flights, accommodation and an interpreter if required. Meanwhile, they have been lobbying MEPs, have had a meeting with the Spanish ambassador to Ireland, and plan to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
"Spain is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires a full and thorough investigation of a crime," says Daniel's mother. "If I wanted to sell beetroot it would have to conform to an EU standard, so how is it that the police force in an EU country can seem to fall considerably below international standards in a criminal investigation following the death of an Irish and EU citizen? Should such a death count for so little?
"We would appeal to the Minister for Foreign Affairs for a meeting, as we strongly believe that representation on our behalf at this level would constitute an important component of our campaign.
"Since Daniel's death we have struggled to get back on track. He would not have wanted us to be destroyed. He would have wanted us to get on with our lives, and that is what we are doing. But we are not giving up, we have a duty to our son, and we will continue our fight for justice for Daniel. If the situation were reversed, we know he would do the same for us."
The O'Callaghan family met the Spanish ambassador to Ireland last month, but when contacted by The Irish Times for this article, the embassy declined to comment.