The Sheriff: A Detective's Story

by Gerry O'Carroll

Since Gerry O'Carroll joined Ireland's national police force in the early 1970s, there has been much bloodshed and plenty of controversy; and as one of the force's most distinguished detective inspectors, he has seen his fair share of both. Following his first posting as an officer on the beat in Dublin, Gerry spent three decades investigating some of the country's most high-profile crimes and here he explains the motives behind them and reveals the confessions that led to convictions. He also shares his thoughts on the Kerry Babies case that split the nation, along with his experiences as an officer at the height of The Troubles. The story then follows his retirement from the force, as he has become a popular columnist with the Evening Herald, is in demand on radio and television for his views on crime, and most famously helped Jon Voight to prepare for his performance as an Irish policeman in John Boorman's The General , based on the life of Martin Cahill, a gangster vigorously pursued by Gerry.

Genres: True Crime

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Alan Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, covering the author's early life and his career in the Irish Garda, with many cases described. He has strong criticism of some of his colleagues and other people involved in the criminal justice system, but is generally proud of the work of the Garda.

However, there is one flaw, concerning the so-called Kerry babies case, which the reader should be aware of. This case takes up a substantial part of the book and centres around an unmarried mother, Joanne Hayes, and two babies who died at about the same time. Hayes was the mother of one of the babies, which was possibly stillborn, but because of the stigma surrounding unmarried mothers at the time she and her family attempted to cover it up. The other baby ("John") was murdered and the body was found on the coast some distance away (this murder is still unsolved). Hayes was suspected of being John's mother, making the babies twins, and was charged with his murder, but the charges were dropped. O'Carroll claims that the babies probably were indeed twins, but recent DNA evidence, produced after the book was written, shows that Hayes was not John's mother, invalidating much of O'Carrol's account of the case.

[Vin Shanahan · Rating 1 out of 5]

'reveals the confessions that led to convictions' .... Pity he hadn't done some real detective work and gathered evidence as opposed to beating & coherecing confessions out of innocent people. Half of these convictions where overturned later on.