Print
E-mail
The Galway man who last week had his conviction for sexually assaulting a young girl declared a miscarriage of justice has demanded an inquiry into how the gardaí investigated the case.
Speaking to the Sunday Tribune from his home in Attymon, Co Galway, Michael Feichín Hannon (34) said there were many inconsistencies with his 10-year-old neighbour's story. There was no medical evidence to prove sexual assault following a check-up by doctors. He also said that investigating gardaí in Clifden were aware there was an on-going row between the two families over land. "The gardaí just wanted to believe that I was guilty and wanted it all over and done with. I'll never forget getting arrested and interrogated by them. They kept saying, 'You did it. Why would she make this up?' I think the gardaí have questions to answer. I'd like to see them investigated."
On Monday, the three-judge Court of Criminal Appeal certified Hannon's 1999 conviction for sexual assault and assault of then 10-year-old Una Hardester was a miscarriage of justice following admissions by her in 2006 that she lied about the alleged offence.
She first made the allegation in 1997. Hannon said the last 12 years of his life have been ruined because of it. While he's happy to have his name cleared, he said he will never fully recover from the ordeal. Hannon has contemplated suicide because of his depression over being wrongly convicted but the knowledge that he was innocent always stopped him. He has a four-year-old son with his partner Martina Kelly, who is due to give birth to their second child in two weeks. He met her after the complaint was made by Hardester and she has stood by him, never doubting his innocence.
"I never tried to take my life but I did sit on the bridge a few times and seriously think about it. Because I knew I was innocent it did give me a ray of hope. If it wasn't for Martina and my family, I wouldn't be here today. I look like a man of 50. This has aged me."
Hannon said he might agree some time in the future to meet Una Hardester face-to-face if she wished to apologise to him, but it was too soon at the moment. However, he said he would never agree to meet her father, American actor Crofton Hardester. Four days before Una Hardester alleged Hannon attacked her, her father was convicted of assaulting Hannon's mother and sister because of the row over a piece of land that adjoined their homes. "I saw him assault my mother and gave statements to the gardaí afterwards. I believe she was influenced into making that statement. I wouldn't totally hold it against her as she was a kid at the time. I never want to meet that man [Crofton] or speak to him," he said. "It's very hard to describe in words the impact the allegations had on me."
In the 1999 trial, Crofton Hardester appealed to the judge not to send Hannon to prison after he was found guilty but before he was sentenced.
"That was bizarre and should have set off alarm bells," said Hannon. "I'd been convicted of sexually assaulting his daughter. You'd expect he would have been waiting for me with a shotgun."
Hannon received a suspended four-year prison sentence. Una Hardester told the court Hannon threw her into a well and held her head underwater after sexually assaulting her.
Just days after Hannon was found guilty, Katherine Hardester, Una's mother, sent her back to the US. Soon afterwards, she split up with her husband and also left Ireland, and the couple has divorced. He also now lives in the US. In a statement posted on her blog this weekend, Katherine Hardester said her daughter never identified Hannon as the man who assaulted her, saying it was a "'a man with a long nose'". She also complained that she stopped the garda interview four times "to complain about the officer's questions". Garda sources say Katherine Hardester's statement at the time contradicts this.
Hannon said he is now going to attempt to rebuild his life and has "hidden himself away" since the allegations were made in 1997. He is entitled to seek compensation from the state.
"This is not something you can really celebrate. No amount of compensation would ever replace the years I have lost. I'm looking forward to the baby being born and getting on with the rest of my life."
del.icio.us
digg
Facebook
Google
I have known Una most of her adolescence and all of her adult life. She is one of the most principled persons I know. She is also one of the most intelligent caring people on the planet and her own worst critic, assuming responsibility for every injustice in the world, especially if she perceives she might have done something about it.
At age 9 she was caught up in a cycle of violence at home and in the neighborhood with a long standing, violent land dispute going on that an outsider 9 year old could not have possibly understood, no matter how bright they might be. Her father literally bought into this feud.
At age 9 she suffered some physically traumatic incident discovered by a neighbor that put her into the juvenile criminal court system. By today’s standards everything involving her case was botched from the get go. Evidence was lost, no medical examination until many days later and on and on. While being questioned she told the officers she could not remember any details so they offered possible scenarios until she agreed to one. During the trial, before her “testimony” she was shown a copy of this “deposition” and reminded of her “story”.
Her mother finally had an opportunity to escape the violence with the children taking them to the relative safety of the US where they tried to correct this miscarriage of justice. Irish law would not allow them to testify from the US and they could not return to Ireland. It was only when she was in college, during an extended internship helping Bosnian war victims that she was finally able to go to Ireland and correct this injustice. True to her character she did this on her own and and has not blamed anyone but herself for any thing that has happened. She is judging herself, at 10 years old, from an adult perspective and persecuting herself for being too weak and timid to stand up to the injustices she saw at the time.
For more details about the circumstances surrounding this whole mess I’d suggest reading her mother’s statement at http://unahardestersmotherspeaks.blog...
All of the parties concerned were caught up in a generations old cycle of disagreement and violence domestic and public, and a bureaucratic system that was insufficient to the circumstances.
Una is a champion for correcting injustices around the world and is a part of the solution to break the cycles of violence that are all around us. She is not the source of the injustice.
It takes someone of Una's courage to speak up and interrupt the unexamined cycles of violence and injustice that permeate the world. She did not have to speak up and it is just not in her to stay silent about any injustice she becomes aware of even if it puts her at risk. Anyone who knows her, has worked with her or had her stand up for them will attest to her true character. She should not be judged too harshly for the momentary failure of a 10 year old to speak up against the injustice of the adult world.