Brother of Limerick woman murdered in hotel welcomes U-turn on killer's 'supervised' family visit
THE BROTHER of a woman who was murdered in a Limerick hotel said he is “delighted” that a planned Christmas visit between her killer and his family has been cancelled.
Sylvia Roche Kelly was murdered on December 7, 2007 at the Clarion Hotel in Limerick city following a birthday night out with friends.
Jerry McGrath from Tipperary was sentenced to life imprisonment after he was convicted of the mother of two's murder.
Ms Roche Kelly's brother, Gerard Bourke, told the Limerick Leader that he was “shocked” to learn from the Prison Service that his sister's killer was being allowed to meet his family for a supervised visit at a neutral location in Kildare.
Mr McGrath was due to be released for a Section 39 prison visit, under which a prisoner may have a supervised visit on compassionate grounds or “for the purpose of assessing a prisoner’s suitability for early release or facilitating his or her re-integration into society”.
After contacting the office of the Minister for Justice to share his concerns, Mr Bourke was told that Mr McGrath's visit had been cancelled.
Mr Bourke said: “The prison service contacted us to say that he was being allowed on a Section 39 visit which can be used to see if a prisoner is fit for release.
“How could you leave him out? I was distraught about it. He has the cheek to apply for a Christmas visit with his family while my sister's kids are going into another Christmas without their mother”.
Mr McGrath fled to the UK after he killed the 33 year-old and it was later discovered that he was on bail for other serious crimes at the time of her murder.
In April 2007, Mr McGrath attacked a taxi driver and six months later, while still on bail, he was caught trying to abduct a five year-old girl from her bedroom in Tipperary. He was released on bail for this crime and two months later he took the life of Ms Roche Kelly.
Mr Bourke said: “How could you be out on bail twice? He went to the UK after the murder, he could have ran from Kildare as well. He is a flight risk”.
Mr Bourke said his family were “up in arms" when they received notice that Mr McGrath had been granted a supervised visit, just weeks before his sister's 15th anniversary.
“After seven years inside he applied for parole, and again after 13 years. Imagine being out with your family and seeing him out. He is a danger to the public”.
Ms Roche Kelly's family did not speak to the media following her murder however, her brother said they were inspired to do so after the successful public appeal by the family of murdered Limerick boxer Kevin Sheehy to keep his killer from being moved to an English prison.
“It is her anniversary in two weeks time so the timing was just unbelievable. We always kept it private but we just couldn't after this,” he said.