Mum loses legal battle over claims she should have been consulted before police bailed man arrested over daughter's drug-related death
A bereaved mother has lost a legal battle to establish she should have been consulted before police bailed a man arrested over the drug-related death of her teenage daughter.
Senior judges in Belfast rejected claims that the PSNI unlawfully failed to inform Lisa Arthurs about the pre-charge release.
The body of Ms Arthurs’ daughter, Gabrielle Connolly, was discovered at a house in the city in July 2020.
Post-mortem examinations established that the 18-year-old, who had been missing for five days, had died from an ingestion of heroin, other toxic substances and an abnormal heartbeat condition.
She was last seen alive in the company of a man who initially lied to police that he did not know Gabrielle. He was then arrested on suspicion of administering a lethal injection and preventing the lawful burial of a corpse.
The suspect gave a “no comment” response throughout interviews.
Police freed him on bail hours later because of insufficient evidence to charge him with any offence. Ms Arthurs was only informed about the decision after his release.
She alleged that he then attempted to communicate with the family by trying to add her as a friend on Facebook.
Her lawyers sought a judicial review against the Chief Constable, claiming she had a legal right to be consulted earlier as a victim of a potential crime.
With up to 5,000 people in Northern Ireland currently on either police or court bail, the case could have set a legal precedent.
The PSNI defended the challenge on the basis that it has complied with the relevant statutory scheme and provided guidance to custody officers considering the release of any detained suspects.
Delivering judgment in the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice McCloskey identified no breach of either the Northern Ireland Victims’ Charter or the Victims’ Right Directive.
“Both measures contain provisions touching on the topic of bail for suspected offenders but stop short of specifying the right advances by (Ms Arthurs),” he said.
The judge acknowledged the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of her daughter following a period of independent living and an “increasingly troubled lifestyle”.
But dismissing the challenge, he stated: “Acceding to the appellant’s invitation would be tantamount to an impermissible exercise of judicial legislating.”