Drug-debt intimidation 'hidden' - partnership meeting hears

The Chair of the Monaghan Local Community Safety Partnership is calling on Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan TD to make all the necessary resources available to the gardaí to heighten policing measures against drug-related intimidation.

Cllr Alan Johnston (FG) was moving a motion of sympathy at last Thursday’s, October 15 meeting of the LCSP in the Monaghan Peace Campus with the surviving family of Kim English, Philip English and their sons Callum and Jayden. Their deaths, after an arson attack on their home in Waterford on Tuesday, October 12, is the subject of a Garda homicide investigation, believed to be motivated by drug debt intimidation by organised crime figures.

Noting that a grandmother and grandchild also lost their lives in similar circumstances in Enniscorthy earlier this year, Cllr Johnston branded the Waterford incident “a watershed moment in drug-related intimidation and violence” and called on the Justice Minister to provide all the resources the Gardaí and other State agencies need to tackle this issue head-on.

“No one should live in a community where innocent people are being murdered for something they didn’t do and were not involved in,” the LCSP Chairperson stated, describing such intimidation as “a smouldering issue” locally. “There is probably more going on than we understand but it is hidden beyond view.”

Cllr Johnston said people are living in fear because of threats and often are afraid to take action in case of retribution. He urged those in this situation to contact the Gardaí who have supports available, or reach out to the appropriate agencies.

He added that drug-related intimidation is the focus of an action in the LCSP’s community safety plan. He also expressed good wishes for a speedy recovery to the two English family children who remain in a critical condition.

LCSP Vice-Chair Cllr Sinéad Flynn (SF) seconded the sympathy expression with “a family going through an unimaginable nightmare”, and the call on the Justice Minister to increase Garda resources and investment, “not just more gardaí on the streets but all that is needed to ensure such acts of intimidation stop and the gangs responsible are brought to prosecution”.

Cllr Noel Keelan (SF) described the Waterford incident as “frightening”, and unbelievable in a modern developed economy. “We are not some backwater of South America where drug gangs are running the show,” he commented, asking for a report from the Gardaí to a future LCSP meeting on the level of this form of crime in County Monaghan.

“We hear anecdotally that these things are happening,” Cllr Keelan stated, “and parents and grandparents are being intimidated over the drug debts of their children and grandchildren but I want to get some data on those areas the LCSP has responsibility for.”

Francis McCarron, Development Team Leader with Monaghan Integrated Development, referred to the drug-taking going on at local level in the county. “People see it as good craic and a buzz and no harm,” he remarked, “and I think we need an information campaign.”

He added: “People might as well be throwing the petrol bombs themselves if they are out buying cocaine on a Saturday night. It’s all related.”

The Chairperson said the root of the problem needs tackling. “If you cut out the demand, you cut out the drug dealing. Anyone who uses drugs has blood on their hands for deaths, shootings and the intimidation that goes on behind closed doors.”

Garda Superintendent Pat O’Connell echoed the sympathy expressions and described the Waterford incident as of utmost seriousness and one of the worst they have seen in recent times, with a full homicide investigation underway.

The senior garda agreed that no place is unaffected by drugs and drug-related criminal behaviour. Regarding the level of drug intimidation under investigation in County Monaghan, Supt O’Connell said it is not a hugely significant issue but said there are a certain cohort of cases under investigation.

The Superintendent pointed out that a Detective Inspector is appointed in each Garda division to liaise directly with people subjected to threats. Detective Inspector Adrian Durcan is the liaison inspector for the Louth Cavan Monaghan Division and he confirmed he will ask him to give a presentation to a future LCSP meeting on his work and the approach taken.

Supt O’Connell said, in such situations, a threat mitigation plan is put in place and monitored on an ongoing basis. Individuals can find it difficult to co-operate with an investigation due to the nature of the crime but he had previous experience when working in the Louth area of dealing directly with a Drogheda family subject to such intimidation. He revealed how he managed a complex investigation where a family was under significant threat but, after a huge operation involving the Gardaí and other agencies, they were able to bring the menaces to court where they received substantial sentences.