The Kerry babies case (Irish: Leanaí Chiarraí)[1][2] was a 1984 investigation by the Garda Síochána in County Kerry, Ireland, into the killing of one newborn baby and the alleged killing of another, and the subject of a 3-part 2023 (UK) Channel 4 documentary “Murdered: The Baby On The Beach.” The mother who concealed the second baby, Joanne Hayes, was arrested and charged with the murder of the first baby, of which she was erroneously thought to be the mother. The Gardaí were forced to drop the charges four years later and a tribunal of inquiry (the "Kerry Babies Tribunal") was launched. Its report was critical of the Garda conduct of the investigations, and it also concluded that Hayes had precipitated the death of her baby. Hayes has disputed this finding, and no charges were pressed. The parents and killer of the first baby have never been publicly identified, though arrests of a man and woman were made in 2023. In 2020, the Irish State formally apologised after 36 years to Joanne Hayes for wrongly accusing her of the murder and for the "appalling hurt and distress caused".[3]
- ^ "Leithscéal gafa le Joanne Hayes agus a muintir faoi chás Leanaí Chiarraí". Tuairisc.ie. 18 December 2020.
- ^ "Gardaí ag caint le daoine i nDairbhre faoi 'Leanaí Chiarraí'". RTÉ. 24 September 2018.
- ^ "Kerry Babies: 'Suffering finally behind us' says Hayes" (Archived 18 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine), RTÉ News, 2020-12-18.