Irish police have apologised to a woman they falsely accused of murdering a baby on a Co Kerry beach more than three decades ago.
New forensic DNA evidence has proved that Joanne Hayes was not the mother of a child known as “Baby John”, whose remains were found at a beauty spot on the southwest Irish coastline in 1984.
The acting head of the Garda Síochána, Dónall Ó Cualáin, telephoned and wrote to Hayes to apologise for the error.
Supt Flor Murphy said that the force was reopening the investigation into the child’s death, who was found with stab wounds by a jogger on the beach.
Speaking at Caherciveen Garda station, close to the spot where the baby’s body was discovered, Murphy said that, following the new DNA evidence, a murder inquiry would “start from scratch”.
He said: “It is a matter of significant regret for An Garda Síochána that it has taken such a long time for it to be confirmed that Ms Hayes is not the mother of Baby John.
“On behalf of An Garda Síochána, I would like to sincerely apologise to Ms Hayes for that, as well as the awful stress and pain she has been put through as a result of the original investigation into this matter, which fell well short of the required standards.”
The treatment of Hayes as a suspect by the Gardaí angered local people as well as women’s rights groups across Ireland at the time.
At one stage, investigating detectives wrongly assumed that Hayes had given birth to twins, one of whom had died and was buried on the family’s farm. The other, they wrongly concluded, was Baby John, whom they believed she had killed.
The DNA evidence released on Tuesday has proved that Hayes was not the mother of Baby John. The baby’s remains are interred at Holy Cross cemetery in Caherciveen.
Murphy said that a “sample has been examined and compared, and as a result of this analysis, we can conclusively state that Joanne Hayes is not the mother of Baby John”.
The Hayes family alleged in the 1980s that they had been coerced into originally making what turned out to be false admissions over involvement in the death of Baby John.
Hayes and her family have yet to comment on the confirmation that she was not the mother of the murdered baby.
