Attack victim's family seeks legal aid

The family of Derek Cumiskey, who died after being attacked in Lanzarote last month, has called on the Government to provide legal aid so that they can find out what happened to their brother and have his organs returned.

The 18-year-old was on holiday with one of his sisters and some friends in the Spanish resort when he was attacked by four men in the early hours of August 1st. He was beaten with an iron bar and collapsed and died not far from where he was staying, in Puerto del Carmen on the Spanish island.

Mr Cumiskey, from Townsend Street in Dublin, was a student with special needs who had just completed his junior certificate at St Augustine's School in Blackrock, Co Dublin.

A postmortem was carried out on his remains and, although his body was returned to his family for burial, his organs were retained for further examination.

Preliminary postmortem results suggested that Mr Cumiskey may have died of cardio-respiratory failure, possibly triggered by a pre-existing heart condition, following the attack.

His organs were transferred to the Canary Islands' main forensic institute in La Laguna (Tenerife) for further tests to establish the exact cause of death.

One man was arrested in connection with the attack but it is understood that no charges have been brought against him.

Karen Cumiskey, a sister of Derek, told The Irish Timesyesterday that authorities on the island have not been keeping the family informed.

The family had expected the investigation into the death to be concluded last Monday, but Ms Cumiskey said they heard through the Department of Foreign Affairs that the judge involved in the case had declared it confidential for another month.

The family have not been officially given any postmortem results and do not know how the criminal case is progressing.

They want Mr Cumiskey's organs returned as soon as possible so that an independent postmortem can be carried out in Ireland. They fear that if too much time passes, the organs could be lost or may not be in a fit condition to be examined. And if the judge rules that Mr Cumiskey died of natural causes, they will have no way of independently verifying that.

"If we had a lawyer over there who could speak English and Spanish we might find out what's going on. At the moment, there is no system to get free legal aid abroad and we can't afford to pay for it ourselves."

She called on the Government to set up a scheme of free legal aid for Irish families involved in cases abroad.

Fianna Fáil TD Chris Andrews urged the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice to continue to put pressure on Spanish authorities to get to the bottom of the case.

"Derek Cumiskey was a good, decent and well-liked young man," he said. "It is a tragic case and the family should have some legal aid to help them get justice in this jurisdiction."