Case No. 0974Child protection (special care referral)
Court of Appeal dismisses father's appeal over special care refusal for 16-year-old son in drug gang
Tusla's special care referral committee refused in May 2025 to detain a 16-year-old boy in Limerick, involved with a violent drug-dealing gang, in special care, and his father appealed to the High Court and then the Court of Appeal. In September 2025, Ms Justice Caroline Costello dismissed the appeal, holding the committee acted rationally in finding the material less than compelling. Separately, gardai arrested a man and a woman, both in their 30s, on 16 September 2025 in connection with the 2010 murder of Lee Slattery, a 24-year-old father-of-one from Ballynanty, whose body was found in the Delmege Park estate near Moyross on 31 May 2010 with gunshot wounds. The arrests bring the total to 30 in the investigation, with five people currently in custody.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrested22 Sep
- Chargednot reported
- In court22 Sep
2 reports - Verdict
- Sentenced
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- Lee Slattery, a 24-year-old father-of-one from Ballynanty, Limerick, was found dead in the Delmege Park estate near Moyross on 31 May 2010.
- A 16-year-old boy in Limerick, involved with a violent drug-dealing gang, was the subject of a third special care referral in 12 months by Tusla, which assessed an extremely significant risk to his life and safety.
- The boy's mother is struggling with drug addiction, his relationship with his father has broken down, he lives with an elderly relative who cannot care for him, he is not attending school, has a high number of court charges, and is not co-operating with probation or support services.
- The boy was involved in a high-speed Garda pursuit in which the vehicle flipped.
- Cause
- A postmortem established he died from gunshot wounds.
- In court
- In May 2025, a special care referral committee refused to detain the boy in special care, citing deprivation of liberty, unexhausted alternatives, and no therapeutic benefit.
- The boy's father appealed to the High Court and then the Court of Appeal to overturn the committee's refusal.
- In September 2025, Ms Justice Caroline Costello dismissed the appeal, holding the committee acted rationally in finding the material less than compelling.
- Investigation
- On 16 September 2025, gardai arrested a man and a woman, both in their 30s, in connection with the Slattery murder; the man was re-arrested under Section 51 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 and the woman detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939.
- 30 arrests have been made to date in connection with the Slattery murder, with five people currently in custody.
- Other details
- A man with no biological link to two children under five, fathered by his former partner, applied to the Family Law Court for 10 access visits per year; Judge Gabbett adjourned the case to the following month.
44 statements extracted from the articles
- whatLee Slattery was a father-of-one from Ballynanty on the northside of Limerick city. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatLee Slattery was 24 years old at the time of his death. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe man has no biological link to the two children (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe applied for 10 access visits per year (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe is named on the baptismal certificates as a parent but not on the birth certificates (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe two men were never married (irishtimes.com)
- whatBoth children are aged under five (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe man said he did feeding, nappy changes, and night feeds (irishtimes.com)
- whatA 10-minute montage of home videos was played to the court (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe man travelled overseas around the time the babies were born to support his then partner (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe has had six access visits since ending the relationship (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe father has a new partner (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe applicant did not reside with the children and lived mainly at his own address (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe father lost his appeal over Tusla's refusal to detain his teenage son in special care. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThis was the third referral in 12 months seeking special care. (irishtimes.com)
- whatSerious criminals have involved the boy in their drug dealing. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy had witnessed people being assaulted and killed. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy is now aged 16. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy's mother is struggling with drug addiction. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy's relationship with his father has completely broken down. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy lives with an elderly relative who cannot care for him. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy was involved in a high-speed Garda pursuit travelling down the wrong side of the motorway. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe vehicle in which the boy was travelling flipped. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy is not attending school. (irishtimes.com)
- whatTusla has been unable to get a residential place for the boy due to his behaviour. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy has a high number of charges before the courts. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe boy is not co-operating with probation services and has refused to engage with various support services. (irishtimes.com)
- whereHis body was discovered in the Delmege Park estate near Moyross. (irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe body was found on 31 May 2010. (irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe last access visit was in January of this year (irishtimes.com)
- causeA postmortem established he died from gunshot wounds. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationOn 16 September 2025, gardai arrested a man and a woman, both in their 30s. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe man was re-arrested under Section 51 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe woman is detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationFive people are currently in custody in relation to the investigation. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationA man and a woman in their 30s were arrested on Monday morning, and a woman was arrested the previous afternoon. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigation30 arrests have been made to date in connection with the investigation. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationGardaí are appealing for information at the incident room in Mayorstone Park Garda Station. (irishmirror.ie)
- courtJudge Gabbett adjourned the case to next month (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe father went to the High Court to overturn a March 2025 decision by a special care referral committee of Tusla. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe committee had reached a similar conclusion on two earlier referrals in 2024. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe earlier refusal was quashed and remitted for fresh consideration by consent in March 2025. (irishtimes.com)
- courtIn May 2025, the committee again held special care was not appropriate, citing deprivation of liberty, unexhausted alternatives, and no therapeutic benefit. (irishtimes.com)
- courtMs Justice Caroline Costello gave the Court of Appeal judgment. (irishtimes.com)
The reporting
newest first- 22 Sep2025Father fails to overturn secure care refusal for teenage son involved with drugs gang
Reports the Court of Appeal judgment dismissing the father's appeal, with Ms Justice Caroline Costello holding the special care referral committee acted rationally in finding the material 'less than compelling'.
victim, 16, male - 22 Sep2025Man tells court he was ‘Dad’ to children fathered by former partner
First report of the Family Law Court hearing on the access application; case adjourned to next month.
accused, malevictim, malevictimvictim - 22 Sep2025Two more people arrested by gardai over 2010 murder of Lee Slattery in Limerick
Reports two further arrests on 16 September 2025 (a man re-arrested under s.51 CJ Act 2007 and a woman detained under s.30 Offences Against the State Act 1939), bringing the total in custody to five and total arrests to 30.
victim, Lee Slattery, 24, male, irish (judged from name)Lee Slatterysuspect, 30s, malesuspect, 30s, female