Widower sues State

The widower of a Cratloe woman strangled to death in a Limerick hotel just over two years ago is suing the State for negligence.

Lorcan Roche-Kelly has already begun his legal battle in the High Court claiming that convicted murderer Jerry McGrath should not have been out on bail at the time he killed mother-of-two, Sylvia Roche-Kelly.
Earlier in 2007, McGrath, from Ballywalter, Cashel, had assaulted a female taxi driver and was on bail pending a hearing of that charge when he met up with and murdered the 34-year-old mother, who had been out celebrating her birthday in Limerick.
He was subsequently sentenced to nine months in prison for that assault.
Shortly after he was convicted of murder, McGrath (25) was sentenced to 10 years in prison for falsely imprisoning a five-year-old girl in Clonmel in October of that year.
Mr Roche Kelly, from Ballintlea, is claiming that McGrath should not have been given bail by the courts because he posed a significant threat to the public and by doing so, the State had acted negligently.
Sixmilebridge-based solicitor Gwen Bowen, who acts for Mr Roche-Kelly, confirmed that a complaint has also been lodged with the Garda Ombudsman Commission.