POLICE in Northern Ireland failed to protect two murder victims from their violent killer, an investigation has found.
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland investigated after the bodies of Caron Smyth, 40, and Finbar McGrillen, 42, were discovered in Belfast on December 13, 2013.
Ms Smyth’s former partner, Sean Hegarty, 33, was arrested on December 14 and was later sentenced at Belfast Crown Court to a minimum of 18 years in prison.
His friend Ciaran Nugent was also charged and sentenced to a minimum of 14 years.
Just six days before the deaths, Hegarty – who had more than 70 convictions and several allegations of abuse of previous partners - had been arrested for common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and the false imprisonment of Ms Smyth.
Known to police as a ‘violent offender’, he was also arrested for criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon and the breach of court bail.
He was taken to police custody in Bangor PSNI station and granted bail on December 9 to appear in court at a later date. He wore an electrictag to monitor his movements at night but was later released to a house that had no electricity supply.
The Police Ombudsman report said Hegarty’s release from custody was flawed.
In a report Dr Michael Maguire said that had a more appropriate course of action been taken by police, it may have reduced the likelihood of what happened.
He identified one ‘very competent’ officer who ‘did the best he could,’ but said six police officers had been disciplined for failures.
He said a series of flawed decisions were made, including when police went to a house where, unknown to them, it’s thought Hegarty was holding Ms Smyth against her will.
“Unable to get any response after knocking the front door and at a front window, they then left, without checking the back door or the rear of the property,” the Ombudsman said.
A timeline of the tragedy
In January 2013, police had a report that during a burglary Hegarty had assaulted a home owner with a hammer.
In early April, they received another report that he had assaulted a man in Strabane.
Later that month, he was given a prison sentence for assault on a former partner the previous year.
In May 2013, he was released from prison and that summer began a relationship with Caron Smyth, who lived at Drumaness in Co. Down.
In June, police received a report that he had cut a relative’s face with a knife.
A month later they received reports that he had made a threatening phone call to an ex-partner and had threatened a woman with a knife.
In October, he was arrested for his alleged involvement in the knife attack on his relative and was released on court bail.
His bail conditions were that he live at Ms Smyth’s home, not go out between 10pm and 7 am, be fitted with an electronic tag to monitor that he keeps the curfew and present himself at the property if asked by police.
Shortly after midnight on December 7, officers called to Ms Smyth’s address to conduct a ‘bail check’ on Hegarty.
According to a report she later made, he was inside, holding her against her will.
“Police knew Hegarty was tagged and further checks should have confirmed he was on the premises. Yet, when no one answered the front door they left, without checking further,” said Dr Maguire.
“Police should have checked Hegarty's location, before leaving house where he was holding Ms Smyth against her will. Officers filed a report that he had breached his bail conditions but took no other action that day.”
The next day Ms Smyth contacted police to say Hegarty had locked her in the house since Friday and assaulted her with a metal bar. She said she had escaped and gone to a relative’s house.
Police met Ms Smyth who said she was frightened and thought Hegarty was going to kill her. She also said she wanted to withdraw the use of her address as part of Hegarty’s bail conditions.
Hegarty was arrested for assault and breaching those conditions but was released on bail on December 9 on condition that he did not contact Ms Smyth or enter Drumaness.
There days later Caron Smyth and Finbar McGrillen were killed.
Ombudsman Dr Maguire said: “This was a man who was flagged on police systems as a violent offender and who had breached court bail conditions the previous weekend, when they believed he committed a violent assault.
“Police decided to release him to a different address, even though only a court can authorise a change of court bail address.
He added: “They did not properly check the suitability of this new property: had they done so they would have established it did not have an electricity supply needed to operate the electronic tag.”
The Police Ombudsman recommended that eight officers be disciplined for failures identified during the investigation.
Six have since been disciplined, one was required to resign in connection with an unrelated matter and police dismissed the charges against the eighth officer.
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