Bobby Ryan’s family hope killer Pat Quirke will stay jailed after Dwyer appeal fails

Michelle Ryan was left devastated on Monday last after the Supreme Court ruled the seizure by gardaí of a computer from the home of love triangle killer Patrick Quirke (54) was unlawful.

The computer had been used to research the decomposition of human remains after murdered Bobby’s body was dumped in an underground tank on girlfriend Mary Lowry’s farm at Fawnagown, Co. Tipperary.

The evidence was considered key in the State proving its case that Quirke had killed the popular DJ, known as Mr Moonlight, so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry

“I was devastated by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Pat Quirke’s case on Monday,” Michelle told the Sunday World.

“Pat Quirke killed my father and the computer evidence played a big part in showing just that – so to have it ruled inadmissible was a big blow.

“But today, after the Dwyer judgement, I’ve found the first bit of hope I’ve had since Monday.

“The judges found there was no wrongdoing or negligence on behalf of the investigation team.

“That, even though it shouldn’t have happened, the evidence still stood on you.

“So, I was delighted with the decision on Graham Dwyer because it gives us that little bit of hope. It is a good sign.”

In the judgement handed down on Friday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the limited admission of call data in the Dwyer case, which was later deemed to have been obtained illegally, could not have given rise to a miscarriage of justice.

Referring to the judgement, Michelle said: “To me, it showed there is no judge who can turn a blind eye to the guilt of these criminals.

“These criminals are roaring and screaming about their rights because they’re incarcerated.

“Just because they are in prison, they think they have more rights than ever.

“But that’s not the case. The evidence gathered from the technology may have helped to put them there.

“And fair enough, the guards should be making sure they have 110pc of the necessary paperwork done before the evidence goes near any court.

“But, even if they don’t, it’s not a reason to let a killer walk free. If the courts see it otherwise, it will create murder.

“Ninety-five per cent of the criminals in the Midlands are probably there due to technology in some form.

“They’re screaming about their right to privacy and their right to a fair trial.

“But, at the end of the day, it was their own negligence in Googling stuff up on a computer or their phone, that has landed them in prison.

“It’s their own stupidity that put them there and roaring about human rights and rights to privacy shouldn’t change that.”

In Monday’s judgement on Pat Quirke’s appeal, the Supreme Court found the seizure of the computer was unlawful as computers were not specified in the application for the warrant used to search Quirke’s home at Breanshamore, Co. Tipperary.

It found that the potential seizure of computers should have been specified in the warrant application made to the District Court so a judge could decide whether the intrusion into privacy rights was justified.

While Quirke’s legal team is likely to push for an acquittal or a retrial, it’s expected the DPP will contest this by relying on a previous Supreme Court judgement that ruled unlawfully obtained evidence can be deemed admissible if the illegality in obtaining it was inadvertent.

Regardless of the outcome of Quirke’s legal moves, Michelle says she is in no doubt he was responsible for her father’s murder.

And she confirmed a civil case initiated against the convicted killer remains live before the courts.

Cases on behalf of Michelle and her brother, Robert Ryan Junior, were lodged in the High Court in 2019.

“With me, it was always about getting justice,” says Michelle.

“There will be a civil case against him. It’s another way of making him pay for what he did.

“As I always said, I’d take whatever money that man had and I’d burn it right outside the prison walls just to prove a point, and that’s exactly what I’d do.

“I’d take the money and burn it outside the prison walls just to say to him: ‘Look, this is where your greed is after getting you.’

“He’s laughing at the minute but I don’t think he’d be laughing if he saw his thousands going up in a ball of flames outside the prison walls.

“Land and money seem to have been so important to him.

“But my daddy didn’t pose any threat to anyone about land or anything else.

“He’d no interest in farming or cows or Mary Lowry’s land.

“Things had ended between Daddy and Mary Lowry the Wednesday before he went missing.

“And nobody will tell me different because I know what he said to me about that.

“So, he didn’t pose a threat to Pat Quirke, he wasn’t going muscling in …

“Why couldn’t he (Quirke) just leave him alone?”

Asked how her family will cope as Quirke continues his relentless bid to overturn his conviction, Michelle answers: “We’re preparing ourselves for the worst but we’re hoping for the best.

“That was the saying that got us through the Criminal Court and it will get us through this.

“But like I said, after the Dwyer judgement, I now have a little bit more hope.”