“It’s now been 20 years and the family are still looking for answers,” says Gemma Dunleavy, using her platform to highlight Terence Wheelock’s case in spoken voice performances.
Terence Wheelock’s family and residents in his north inner city community continue to call for a public inquiry into his suspicious death while in garda custody 20 years ago.
Since his death in 2005, Terence’s case was highlighted by many, including human rights group Amnesty International, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and local and national politicians.
An inquest in 2007 into Terence’s death resulted in a split jury decision, however a subsequent investigation by the then Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission declared that Terence was not mistreated in Garda custody. Nonetheless, family and supporters including councillors, TDs and senators continue to campaign for an independent public inquiry.
Among the campaigners is local singer Gemma Dunleavy who routinely uses her platform to highlight Terence’s case in spoken voice performances.
“It’s now been 20 years and the family are still looking for answers,” she recited recently, listing the numbers associated with Terence’s death:
“20 – the age Terence was when he left his ma’s house to buy a paintbrush. 3 – the number of months he lay in a coma before he eventually passed away. 15 – the number of years his blood-stained clothes were hidden by the police force. 37 – the number of photographs taken of the injuries sustained by his body. 14 – the number of minutes they left him on the ground before picking up a phone to ring an ambulance. Zero – the number of public investigations and independent inquiries… It’s been 20 years, imagine that, and still no justice. …And they still have the audacity to say they did nothing.
“It’s easy to blame certain people in society, easy to blame us for existing in the ghettos they made by design. And we all know a young fella who ended up in the back of the Mariah for wearing a tracksuit or having the wrong second name. …But we’re getting louder and we won’t stop,” she spoke-sang.
