RTÉ Prime Time highlights flaws in garda investigation

A hard-hitting Prime Time investigation broadcast on September 11 has reignited calls for justice in the case of Liam Farrell, the 87-year-old Leitrim farmer found dead outside his Rooskey home in January 2020.

Fifteen hours after walking home along the N4 following an evening socialising locally, Liam’s body was discovered outside his back door. He was badly bruised, partially undressed, and lying on his back. His shoes and socks were off, his jacket rolled beside him, and his wallet was missing. Blood streamed down his face, with injuries visible to his hands, feet and legs.

Speaking on the programme, Liam’s son Brendan said the scene was “carnage.” “You didn’t have to be an expert to know that poor Daddy was attacked. Even though it was Daddy, I didn’t recognise him. He was covered in blood. The walls were covered in blood. His hands were all black. Someone told us that our father did not die where he was found — that he was dragged there.”

His older brother Mel, now 90, described him as “a pure gentleman” with no enemies. “I won’t rest until they are got,” he said. Mel added: “I’m 90 and I want to see him get the truth before I die. It would mean a lot to me. Someone is holding back something, I think. Someone knows something and they won’t say it.”

Despite the suspicious circumstances, gardaí requested only a routine autopsy rather than a forensic one. The post-mortem, carried out by Professor Paul Hartel at Sligo University Hospital, concluded Liam had died of a heart attack. But Professor Hartel later told an inquest he had not been informed that the body came from a sealed-off crime scene. “Had I known, I would have refused to carry out the examination and insisted a forensic pathologist be assigned,” he said. Liam’s body had been taken from the scene before he was aware of its suspicious nature. Gardaí lifted the cordon the following day and returned the house to the family.

Family solicitor Frank Buttimer said the investigation had failed from the start: “Things went wrong from the moment there was, for some unknown reason, a lack of communication between the scenes-of-crime guards and the senior guards who attended. It was literally an opportunity missed to carry out a more comprehensive post-mortem that would have established the presence of injuries and a likely causal connection to a likely assault.”

The Prime Time report also highlighted troubling inconsistencies. An emergency responder recalled seeing a hat at the scene that later disappeared, though Liam had not been wearing one that night. Footprints spotted on the front lawn were later dismissed by a garda as his own. False rumours circulated locally that Farrell had become a millionaire before his death — claims his son Peter described as damaging and untrue.

Peter Farrell said that was not the case. “Daddy only got 50,000 in the will. We have no confidence whatsoever in this investigation,” he said.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice and Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Matt Carthy TD, said the programme raised “serious questions” and confirmed he will bring the matter directly to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan. “Liam Farrell’s death was clearly suspicious and warranted a full investigation. His family deserve answers. Far too often families are forced to campaign for years to get justice. There are strong grounds for reopening this case to ensure that a full and proper investigation takes place.”

Following the broadcast, the Farrell family said the programme shows that their father clearly did not die of a heart attack but was attacked and robbed at his home. As the sixth anniversary of his death approaches, they remain determined to uncover the truth of what happened on that cold January night in Rooskey.

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