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Joanne Hayes, the woman who was wrongly accused of murdering a baby more than 35 years ago, and her siblings want the Superior Court to declare that all the findings or wrongdoing committed against them by the court in the Kerry babies case were unfounded and wrong.
Ms. Hayes and her brothers Edmund, Kathleen, and Michael Hayes are seeking the statements in an attempt to finalize matters related to the events of the mid-1980s and to vindicate the good name of the family.
In 1984, the Gardaí arrested Ms Hayes and members of her family following the discovery of a newborn baby with multiple stab wounds in Cahersiveen, South Kerry, about 50 miles from Ms Hayes’ home in Abbeydorney in North Kerry.
The parents of that child, named baby John, have never been identified, nor has his killer.
Ms. Hayes was accused of being the mother of baby John and of murdering him. His family was accused of concealing the birth of a child.
Following her arrest in May 1984, Ms Hayes and her family say that following the wrongful acts committed by the Gardaí, they were forced to make false confessions admitting to the murder of baby John, which they later withdrew.
The charges of which they were all innocent were dropped in October 1984.
Ms. Hayes had given birth to a boy, named Shane, on April 13, 1984 on the family farm, but that boy died and was buried on the family farm.
She claims that a proper investigation of the matter by gardaí would have eliminated her and her family as persons of concern.
Her arrest, questioning and indictment were inappropriate after a blood test in May 1984 made it clear that she was not the mother of baby John.
She was also at one point in the investigation accused by Gardaí of having given birth to twins, which she said was used for the purpose of malicious and ongoing prosecution in court.
An investigative court, known as the Kerry Babies Court, led by then-Judge Kevin Lynch, was established and heard in late 1984 and early 1985.
Ms. Hayes and her family say the report contained numerous findings against her that were false, unfounded, not supported by any evidence, and purely speculative.
The findings against her include that Ms. Hayes assaulted her newborn son with a toilet brush and choked him to death.
This finding was unfounded and was made despite the fact that former state pathologist Dr. John Harbison, who performed an autopsy, was unable to determine Shane’s cause of death.
The court also wrongly found, they claim, that the Hayes family lied to the court, that they were involved in an attempted cover-up regarding Shane’s death, and that they had lied and made false accusations against the gardaí.
The court also inferred, without explanation, that the false confessions made by the Hayes family stemmed from a guilty conscience. The family says there was no basis for these findings.
More on the case of the Kerry babies
Gardaí apologizes to Joanne Hayes for stress and pain
Report of the Court of Investigation published – 1985
Kerry Babies Court Findings
Ms Hayes also claims that during the hearing the court showed bias and lack of fair procedures by allowing gardaí to hint that she was “promiscuous”, “a woman of loose morals”, to make unfounded statements about her relationship with Jeremiah Locke, her ex-partner. . and about her sexual history.
An inappropriate analogy that the court allowed to be used was the argument that Ms. Hayes had given birth to twins from two different parents, in circumstances where medical experts elsewhere had said it was unfounded.
The court also showed bias when it allowed the public broadcast of medical expert testimony on Ms. Hayes’ private health and gynecological details, when it had the power to do so in private.
During the court, it is alleged, that gardaí took false and unjustifiable positions by stating that none of the Hayes family members were stressed or upset during their interrogations, and that the interrogation was not related to baby John, but to the pregnancy itself. from Mrs. Hayes.
In 2018, Ms. Hayes de Tralee in Co Kerry, received apologies for her treatment of both the then taoiseach and the current Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar on behalf of the State, and the then acting commissioner of the garda Dónall Ó Cualáin.
The brothers have filed proceedings in the High Court against the Garda Commissioner, the Irish Minister of Justice and the Attorney General, requesting various statements and claiming damages.
They request statements that the investigation, as well as the questioning, arrest, indictment and prosecution of Ms. Hayes between April and October 1984, were unfounded and violated her constitutional rights.
Ms. Hayes also requests a statement that any finding of wrongdoing contained in the 1985 report of the court’s investigation into the Kerry Babies case is unfounded and incorrect and violates her constitutional rights.
The matter was briefly raised before Judge Leonie Reynolds in Superior Court this afternoon.
Liam Reidy, Ms. Hayes’ lead attorney, said the request was made as part of ongoing discussions between the family and the state defendants.
If the statements are made by the court, then the defendants have agreed to prominently attach such orders to all copies of the 1985 court report, the court heard.
The judge granted the brothers’ attorneys permission to give short notice of motions in which the Hayes brothers request formal statements.
The matter will return to court next week.
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