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Notorious serial killer Nash fails in bid for damages
Summary
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has declared a damages claim by Mark Nash inadmissible due to delay. Nash, who is serving life sentences for the Grangegorman murders, had complained that his right to a trial within a reasonable time was breached. The Strasbourg Court unanimously held that his complaints were lodged more than six months after the final Irish Supreme Court decision, rendering them inadmissible. Nash was found guilty in 2015 of murdering Sylvia Sheils and Mary Callanan in 1997, a conviction upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. He had previously sought damages in Irish courts for the delay between his initial questioning in 1997 and formal charges in 2009, but the High Court and Supreme Court refused relief. The ECHR noted that the Supreme Court dismissed his damages claim in October 2016, and a subsequent 2017 application to revisit that order did not restart the six-month filing period. The Court stated that allowing such applications to reset the deadline would subvert the purpose of the six-month rule. Consequently, Nash's application for damages regarding pre-trial prosecutorial delay was dismissed. Nash remains serving four life sentences at Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, for the murders of two women in Dublin and two people in Roscommon.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Notorious serial killer Nash fails in bid for damages. Charges or matters: murdering two women in Dublin, whose mutilated bodies were found in sheltered accommodation in Grangegorman 23 years ago; the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- October 1998 Other
- August 1997 Other
- March 6 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 7, 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 20, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- May 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 4, 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 24, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- July 13, 2017 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2020-04-30 Publication
Why: In its judgement which was published today, the Strasbourg Court unanimously held that Nash's complaints were lodged more than six months after the last Supreme Court decision in Ireland and therefore were inadmissible because of this delay. CNI source report
Case subjects
Background Person
Charges: murdering two women in Dublin, whose mutilated bodies were found in sheltered accommodation in Grangegorman 23 years ago; the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997 (Proven)
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; Credit: Collins) A damages claim by serial killer Mark Nash, who is serving life sentences for the notorious Grangegorman murders, has been declared inadmissible by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the grounds of delay. Nash had already been serving life sentences since October 1998 for murdering two people in Roscommon in mid-August 1997.
Places mentioned
- Supreme Court
- Central Criminal Court
- Court of Appeal
- The Supreme Court
- The Irish High Court
- Midlands Prison
- Prussia Street
- Clonliffe Road
Topics
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