Family's 'complete and utter torture' over Donegal Garda car death

The family of a woman who was killed after being hit by a Garda (Irish police) patrol car have said they are trying to find out exactly what happened has become "complete and utter torture".

Rebecca Browne, 21, from Galliagh in Londonderry, died in May 2023 at Ludden, near Buncrana in County Donegal.

"It is hard, really hard on the family… we don't even know how she died," Rebecca's aunt and godmother Karina Smith said.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) said it had no further comment to last week's statement, that it had told the Browne family and the gardaí involved there would be no prosecutions in the case.

Ms Browne died after going to Buncrana with her cousin for a night out.

The family told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme that they needed truth and honesty about what happened but believe that has been increasingly difficult to get.

Mrs Smith said that, in the months since Rebecca's death, there had been limited communication or information from the GSOC in the Republic of Ireland.

She added: "Everywhere you turn there has been silence."

The Browne family were told last week that no one will be prosecuted over her death.

That news, Mrs Smith said, was "devastating", and made worse by the fact it arrived via email and no one met them in person, she said.

Rebecca's death had, at first, been referred to the GSOC to determine if the actions of the Gardaí had amounted to a breach of discipline before a new investigation was announced to examine whether the actions of Gardaí were criminal in nature.

Last week's email from the GSOC was the first time the family had had any contact with them since the summer of last year, Rebecca's aunt said.

"We haven't heard a thing since July 2023. Then to get that news just was awful, it was horrific," she said.

That lack of information and communication, Mrs Smith said, has been "complete and utter torture" for the family.

"We just want answers and we want clarity. We want to know how it (the GSOC) came to this decision… we want to know why they didn't have the decency to bring us in and deliver that devastating news face to face."

Mrs Smith added: "We don't even have a forensic report… there is documentation that has never been given to us but they can come back with this decision. We want to know why.

"It is really not good enough, it has been 18 months of chasing around trying to find information and get support which has been non existent."

Last week it said Ireland's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had informed it of its decision not to direct a prosecution and notified all relevant parties, including Ms Browne's family and Garda members involved.

It said while GSOC could make no further comment, it would "continue to engage with the Browne family in the context of coronial proceedings and any other statutory processes that may arise".

The family's solicitor has also previously confirmed last week that he had requested the "full written reasons, together with all documents, consultation notes, expert opinions and reports, and memoranda which have given rise to this decision".

"It is our intention to challenge this decision by way of judicial review," Conor Moylan, of Madden and Finucane Solicitors, said.

Mrs Smith said the legal challenge would get under way in early 2025.

Rebecca's mum, dad and brother are "utterly devastated", she added, but widespread support for the campaign for justice was keeping the family going.

"We had been keeping quiet, hoping we would find out answers… Her (Rebecca's) death will not be shoved under the carpet. She was very loved, everyone is uniting together," she said.