'So unfair' - Family's plea as gardaí 'fail to return' brother's jacket 30 years after death

On this Tuesday's episode of RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline, Joe Duffy interviewed Sean O'Sallaigh, who shared the story of his brother Thomas Weekes’s attack in 1992 and the subsequent mystery of his missing jacket, which he believes the gardaí have failed to return.

On Liveline, Sean described the events. It is said that Dubin man, Karl Holmes attacked Thomas, inflicting severe injuries, and despite going to St James’s Hospital, then leaving prematurely, his condition worsened, and was rushed back to the hospital after suffering a seizure. Tragically, then Thomas died a week later.

Sean recounted the devastating impact of his brother's death on their family. "He was just about to turn 21. He had his whole life ahead of him, a job, a girlfriend, and a family who loved him" Sean said.

Following Thomas’s death, the gardaí collected his bloodstained clothes for evidence. While his jeans and shirt were willingly handed over, Sean expressed a desire to keep Thomas’s boots and leather jacket, items which held major sentimental value as they had been purchased with his first paycheck from a local job.

Holmes previously served 18 months of a five-year sentence for the death of Mr Weekes, who he assaulted in Tallaght.

Holmes died after an attack in 2015, just yards away from where he attacked Mr Weekes in October 1992.

Despite numerous attempts to contact the gardaí and visit the station, Sean has not received the items.

"The gardaí were always kind and respectful, but I never got a clear answer or the jacket and boots back," Sean recounted. "Those items were important to us. They represented Thomas’s dignity and his first steps into adulthood."

A spokesperson from An Garda Síochána has said: "We are liaising with Tallaght garda station on this request which relates to a case which occurred over three decades ago.

"Their enquiries into this matter are ongoing and we will update when possible."