What about his mother? He never got any compassion from her. Mrs Kane may be crying now, but where was she the night her son needed a mother? One night Mrs Kane was drinking- which was a regular ritual- and she had some male company with her. She must not have told this man that she had a son because when he saw Owen, he wanted to leave immediately. Bridget Kane got frustrated with his departure and therefore blamed her son. I believe the evidence states that she said to Owen, ‘if it wasn’t for you, you wee shit,’ after she walked over to the bed he was lying in with a pillow in her hand, and attempted to smother him with it. All the child was doing was lying in bed, probably worrying about his mother, with no one around to look after him, or care for him, and as a reward, his mother attempted to murder him! A neighbour then found him in the hallway wearing nothing but a vest! To apologise for her actions, she gave him money for chewing gum for a week. Personally, I believe she could have done a lot more to make up for what she had done. And then she abandoned him with the Brothers, neglecting her parental responsibility.
Now let’s move on to my client, Brother Michael Lamb. He is an only child from Ballycastle, and was always very religious. He was raised in a stable, loving relationship. His mother died when he was only five years old. His father was devoted to him and his mother. He could be described as ‘the perfect father’ who bonded with his son through activities such as fishing. Because Michael had such good times with his father, he wanted to give Owen the same luxury, which he had never experienced, and fill that gap in his life. He joined the Brothers to serve God and to help the young troubled boys. He meant absolutely no harm. What caused him to leave the brothers? Certainly not loss of faith, but a total opposition to Brother Benedicts brutal and sadistic tactics towards the boys. What man would whip a boy of twelve years old for something he has proved he didn’t do? And also enjoy doing it. He did this when there was graffiti on the wall saying “Bene dles OK.” He took the ‘OK’ to be Owen Kane’s initials, and therefore punished him. His method is to punish the innocent to terrorise the guilty. He believed that the more you beat a child, the more it shows your love. Mr Lamb didn’t agree with this method. Who would? Michael wanted to take Owen away for these reasons, to give him a better childhood.
When they had left the Brothers, Michael was in a very difficult situation. He took the child which was an impulsive reaction. He had pure motives, and I can’t stress enough that his intentions were not cruel. This child needed love; compassion; value. Owen Kane smoked at the age of eight. His diet consisted of chewing gum and alcohol. A child with such a poor diet must be neglected. He needed someone like Mr Lamb to care for him.
Moving on to finances: Michael was naive when it came to money. He had financial constraints due to reckless spending: buying luxuries. They went to a football match, stayed in good hotels, went to toy shops. This meant he ran out of money rapidly. He wanted to get a job to pay for Owens prescription for epilepsy, education… it soon became clear to Mr. Lamb that adoption was –at this point- impossible. He was emotionally unstable. He had no one to talk to or trust because he was literally on the run. The police were aware of him, and so was the media. Ladies and gentlemen, can you see the difficult situation my client was in. Yes, he had done wrong, but there was nothing he could do at this stage. He felt compelled to act in ways he would never have considered had circumstances been different.
Now what were his options? He could take Owen back to the cruelty of the home. Would that have been good for the boy? Subjecting him to violent abuse from Brother Benedict? Or what about taking him back to his mother who hated him? Back to hunger? Abuse? Neglect? Drugs? Crime? Alcohol? No guidance? Michael knew that his father couldn’t be contacted. In fact my office tried to contact him; he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he didn’t hear the messages we left, or just chose not to listen. There were nationwide appeals so Michaels choices were limited. For the safety of the child, there were no options.
As I draw to a conclusion, I ask you this. What would you wish for your child? If you could imagine the situation. A short happy life with love and affection? Or a longer abusive unhappy life, spiralling downwards? I know what I’d choose.
When you go home tonight you’ll never have to think of this again. You’ve heard all of the evidence. Now it’s over to you. I appeal to your sense of justice and compassion not to pass harsh judgement on him. Michael has suffered enough and has had a very difficult six weeks. I do not condone what he did, but I know his desire was to help this child.
His mother will remember him as a difficult child. Benedict will be grateful that the chapter on Owen Kane is closed, but Michael Lamb will carry his actions and the memory of this child to his grave. This man needs peace, sensitive counselling and overall he needs time. I ask you to allow compassion and a sense of justice to influence your verdict.
