Mayo man questions bonafides of Joe Deacy documentary maker

A Mayo man who claims his family continue to be harassed by an 'out of control group' connected to the late Joe Deacy has objected to transcripts of a court case being released to a documentary maker.

An application to release a transcript of the sentence hearing in a case of harassment involving Peter and Ann Byrne was made by Shane Caffrey, who is making a documentary into the death of Joe Deacy.

Twenty-one-year-old Joe Deacy from St Alban's, Hertfordshire, UK was found unconscious outside the Byrne home at Gortnasillagh, Swinford at 6.45am on August 12, 2017 and died the following day in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

Each August on the anniversary of Mr Deacy's death, friends and family of Joe Deacy march to the Byrne family home to lay flowers at the location where he was found unconscious. Mr Byrne has previously stated that the group who take part in the march are not welcome and accused them of trespassing on his property.

Objection

At yesterday's sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court, Mr Byrne objected to Mr Caffrey's application to have the transcript of the Digital Audio Recording from the sentence hearing on July 24, 2025 released to him.

Addressing Judge Eoin Garavan, Mr Byrne said that Mr Caffrey has been present at the protest outside his home for the past two years and accused him of not being a 'bonafide actor'.

“We were here on July 24 [2025] and made our victim impact statements and 17 days later, Shane Caffrey came to my house with a group of people who were uninvited and there was a march outside my house and trespassing on our driveway. He trespassed.

“I have made a complaint to gardaí about what happened at those protests in 2024 and 2025 and I have a pulse number and the documentary maker Shane Caffrey was mentioned as part of the protest,” he told the application hearing in Castlebar.

Brendan Rowland, with an address in Shenley Road, Borehamwood near London received an 18 month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to harassment and part of conditions of the sentence included having no contact with the Byrnes for a ten year period and not coming within 500m of them or their home.

Mr Byrne told Judge Garavan that he believes that Mr Rowland was not the only person involved in harassment against his family and claimed it is ongoing.

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“Since 2018 we have been trapped in our house every August by these people and Shane Caffrey was part of the group for two years in 2024 and 2025.

“This is ongoing harassment which happened less than three weeks after we sat in court and gave our victim impact statement.

“It continues to occur and our family members in Ireland and abroad have been harassed and intimidated by a group of people who I believe are organised and out of control,” he added.

'Total lies'

Mr Byrne also accused some people who spoke at the protest outside his home of telling 'total lies' about the case. He denied claims made that his family did not help Joe at the time and that the gardaí did not get access to his house for three days and that there was an effort to conceal evidence and records.

“I would not prefer any of it [transcript] to be part [of the documentary] in the circumstances. I made a report to Gardaí and I think that investigation should be concluded before anything is given to anyone,” he said to Judge Garavan.

Mr Matthew Kenny, solicitor for Mr Caffrey, said his client was at the protest outside the Byrne home in his capacity as a documentary maker. He said the purpose of seeking the transcript was to ensure comments made during the court hearing last July are recorded accurately in the documentary.

“He is neutral and he is making a documentary and it is exactly why it is not an injustice to provide a transcript in a limited format to ensure the remarks made at the sentence hearing are only reported absolutely accurately so people's remarks are not taken out of context. His objective to make a documentary is to make one which is fair to all sides in what is clearly a matter of public interest,” he said.

Mr Kenny said his client made notes during the sentencing hearing but he wants to be absolutely accurate in the making of the documentary.

Judge Eoin Garavan commented that the application was unique and unusual as it was being brought for reasons 'outside the realm of the courthouse'.

“I never heard anyone say they want it for a documentary but if the interest of justice and the public at large are an accurate and educational programme for the purposes of knowledge or the operation of the law I don't have a huge problem in principle with it,” he said adding that if someone was 100 percent confident in their shorthand there would be no need for the DAR.

Judge Garavan said he would consider the submissions of Mr Byrne in his objection and give his decision on March 13.