Gardai accused of assaulting six members of a Dublin family

For some time now, the behaviour of the Gardai (the Irish Police force) has been a growing cause for concern for Irish citizens. After the infamous MayDay riots of 2004 and the criminal actions of certain Donegal Gardai, we now have a rather alarming news story concerning the Wheelock family of Dublin: a story that the mainstream Irish media have done a fantastic job of ignoring.

Scott Millar, writing for the Village magazine reports:

'Six members of the family of Terence Wheelock, who died having been in Garda custody last year, claim to have been assaulted by gardaí at their home on 17 May.

On the evening of Wednesday 17 May, at around 7.15pm, Laurence Wheelock, Terence Wheelock's brother, was holding a weekly campaign meeting in his home with the parents and sister of John Maloney. Terence died from injuries received in Garda custody in June 2006; John Maloney died an hour after leaving Garda custody in 2003; both families want the circumstances of their sons' deaths independently investigated.

"While we were talking in the kitchen, a knock came to the window," says Laurence Wheelock. "I saw two guards holding Gavin, one by the neck, one around the waist. Me and my dad ran out to see what was going on. Gavin was only after leaving the house a couple of minutes before to distribute leaflets [calling for an independent investigation into his brother's death]. The guard says he was doing him on a public order offence. We said, 'Look, he didn't do anything wrong.' We ended up managing to get them to let go of Gavin. With that they tried to arrest my father."'

More:

Village magazine's Scott Millar on the Wheelock family

Village magazine's John Byrne on the Lusk Killings
Public Inquiry blog