On Wednesday, 19 August 1998 William Brady died in London. Police were called to the location of the man's remains. PC Paul Lancaster stated:
.[The male was recognised by PC2877R Christianson as WILLIAM THOMAS BRADY, date of birth 4/8/68 of 137 Morley Ave N22. A PNC name check was carried out and his identity was confirmed by the descriptions of his tattoos on the PNC.]
It is clear from an early stage that this young man's identity was established. The police said they called to his last known address and were told by the person residing there that Mr. Brady no longer lived there and the person then provided them with details of a relative. The police claim that they carried out a public advertising campaign through which they asked people to come forward in order to identify this young man but it came to nothing.
Mr. Brady's mother was concerned when she had not heard from her son, although he had been in difficulties and it was not unusual, and she asked somebody who was visiting London to check up on him. She then discovered that her son had been dead for nine months. The police authorities claim that when they had no success with their advertising campaign, William Brady was cremated on 29 October 1998. At that point his family was told that his ashes were dispersed at the rear of the police station. The family has since been told that those were not the circumstances and his relatives were given his ashes.
In May 1999 the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews, on foot of correspondence and representations from the Taoiseach, asked the Irish Embassy in London to seek information from the Coroner's Court on the circumstances surrounding Mr. Brady's death and an explanation as to why the Garda was not contacted. Following advice from the Minister, Mr. Brady's mother immediately made a complaint to the Police Complaints Authority. As far I am aware, there has been no follow-up correspon dence on foot of the Minister's request that an inquiry should be carried out. When Mrs. Brady lodged her complaint with the authority she received a reply in June 1999 which stated that it was not a matter for the authority and that before a complaint can be investigated the chief constable of the force must decide whether to record it. It was, therefore, referred to the chief constable. If the chief constable decides not to record the complaint, the authority has no power to overrule the decision. Mrs. Brady has still heard nothing from the authority.
This is an extremely tragic case. This young man had a number of children, but he had difficulties. He was a drug abuser and was on a methadone programme when he died. His family does not know how he died. His mother has received the coroner's report but found it extraordinary that it suggested that, although all his organs were intact, he may have died as a result of a methadone overdose. Family members are finding it difficult to come to terms with his death. The police knew he was Irish because they had a record of him and were able to identify him at the scene of his death. It is unbelievable that they did not find it worth their while to telephone the Garda, inform it that they had the body of a young Irish man and ask whether his relatives could be traced.
Mrs. Brady feels that her son's life did not even amount to the cost of a telephone call by the British authorities to the Garda. I spoke to her recently and although she has ashes which were given to her by the police authorities in England, she does not believe fully, because of the tragic circumstances, that they are her son's. That is an absolute travesty of justice and the Minister should ascertain why a simple telephone call was not made to trace this young man's relatives. His body was held for ten weeks, and nine months after he died Mrs. Brady discovered that her son was dead after she asked someone to make inquiries.
