Impact statement criticised by judge

A JUDGE has described as “disingenuous in the extreme” a victim impact statement by the family of Melissa Mahon, the 14-year-…

A JUDGE has described as “disingenuous in the extreme” a victim impact statement by the family of Melissa Mahon, the 14-year-old schoolgirl killed in Sligo in September 2006.

Mr Justice Barry White made the remark yesterday during the sentence hearing in the Central Criminal Court on Ronnie Dunbar, the man convicted by a jury in May of killing the 14 year old.

The dead girl’s mother, Mary Mahon, later expressed her anger at the judge’s comments.

Mr Justice White said he needed time to consider the sentence and adjourned the case to Friday morning.

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Isobel Kennedy SC, prosecuting, read a brief statement made by Melissa’s mother on behalf of the family.

Mrs Mahon said that her daughter had attempted suicide but was saved by her Mrs Mahon’s husband, Frederick. The statement also revealed that Melissa’s closest sister, Leanna, had taken an overdose and slashed herself, and another sister, Yvonne, had slashed herself.

Mrs Mahon said in the statement that there had been an emotional impact on her entire family in Ireland and England. “She was my baby and our whole life has been torn apart.”

Mary and Frederick Mahon and a number of members of the Mahon family were in court.

Mr Justice White asked the prosecution to tell him how the Mahon family had behaved in the time between Melissa’s disappearance in September 2006 and the discovery of her remains in February 2008.

Det Insp John O’Reilly told Ms Kennedy that because Melissa was in the care of the Health Service Executive at the time she went missing, they felt that she was the HSE’s responsibility.

Det Insp O’Reilly said the family refused to give statements to gardaí in relation to Melissa’s disappearance despite being asked to on a number of occasions. He said that the family felt able to make statements only at an advanced stage of the investigation.

He agreed with Mr Justice White that the Mahons had maintained a pretence that Melissa was in England. Mary Mahon had told gardaí that “parties” had given her information about her daughter’s whereabouts but she refused to say who those parties were.

Ronald McManus, also known as Ronnie Dunbar (44), of Rathbraughan Park, Sligo, denied the murder of Melissa and denied threatening to kill his daughter Samantha on dates between September 14th and 30th, 2006.

A Central Criminal Court jury found him not guilty of making the threat and not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, following a five-week trial.

During the trial two of Dunbar’s daughters gave evidence via video link in which they said that they saw Melissa and their father on his bed with his arm around her neck. They said that Melissa died and was put into the boot of Dunbar’s car wrapped in a sleeping bag. The jury heard that the girls went with Dunbar in his car to a secluded area by the River Bonet where he dumped the girl’s body.

There had been evidence during the course of the trial of an “inappropriate relationship” between the defendant and the deceased.

The court heard that Dunbar had 13 previous convictions in Ireland and England for offences including theft, burglary, possession of a controlled substance, criminal damage, shoplifting, larceny, assault, robbery with violence and car theft.

Brendan Grehan SC, defending, said he would not call any evidence and that he was unclear as to what offence precisely his client was to be sentenced for.

He said if the court accepted the jury’s verdict then the case must be one of involuntary manslaughter and one which could be compared to the Wayne O’Donoghue case.

Mr Grehan said that the jury had not been satisfied that his client had intended to kill or cause serious harm to Melissa and that the accused must be sentenced in terms consistent with the verdict.

He said that no account should be taken by the court of any other criminal behaviour referred to during the trial.

Ms Kennedy said that this case could be distinguished from the O’Donoghue case in that there was a high level of remorse displayed by O’Donoghue who said the killing of Robert Holohan was an accident.