Family of teen butchered by axe make 18th anniversary appeal to catch his killer

Jeffrey Hannan, (19), was murdered by a man at a bonfire near his home on November 22, 2007 Jeffrey Hannan, (19), was murdered by a man at a bonfire near his home on November 22, 2007.Innocent Jeffrey, who had no links to crime, sustained at least ten blows to his head with the axe, and sustained kicks to his body while he lay on the ground afterwards, an autopsy found.His blood soaked body was dragged across a green patch and dumped near a wall close to his home at O’Malley Park, Southill.Several other people witnessed the attack and are suspected of aiding the killer - however nobody has ever been charged.Jeffrey’s father, Alan, (62), and daughter Nikita, (19), appealed for those with information to pass it onto gardai.“It hurts everyday. As a nineteen year old girl, the same age as my Dad was when he was killed, everything I have watched growing up has hurt me,” Nikita said.“Every night I go to sleep and I dream about him up at his grave. I have nightmares, imagining my father, a young man, being killed, wondering about his last moments.”“If I was one of them (witnesses) that was around him on the night he got murdered, and heard his screams and his last words - that would haunt me and I would hand myself in.”“Everybody knows who did it, the dogs on the street know exactly what happened to my Dad.”Jeffrey HannanNikita said she and her family see her father’s killer on the streets of Limerick: “I pass these them on the street and that makes me sick, it gives me a knot in my stomach.”“My dad’s life did not deserve to be taken like that, he wasn't involved with gangs, or the wrong people. He had an opportunity to make a life for himself and he wasn't given that chance,” she said.Nikita said her father’s murder and subsequent claims about the garda led her to feeling “suicidal”.“It’s been hard to live with, it horrible, but I won’t stop talking about my father and trying to get him justice,” she pledged.“One day those involved are going to break, and my father will be served justice. My dad is not going to be forgotten about.Jeffrey’s father Alan said: “We have no justice for Jeffrey, I went to the Gardai so many times over the years and nothing has happened.”News in 90 Seconds - Monday, November 24 “There are people that know exactly what happened, the gardai have told me they know who killed Jeffrey.”“It is eighteen years, its about time people came forward and helped us.”Mr Hannan has repeatedly asked gardai for an independent “cold case review” of his son’s case but this has not happened.The case was reviewed by local gardai but they said they could not bring it forward.“I want gardai from outside Limerick to take a look at my son’s case,” Mr Hannan added.“The impact on us is horrendous, people say time heals but it gets harder the longer it goes on. If we got justice it would be some weight off my shoulder knowing they are locked up.”“Apparently in today’s world you can go out and murder someone and nothing is done about it.”Paying tribute to his son, Mr Hannan said: “Jeffrey was nice to everyone, very quiet, never bothered anyone, he always had a smile on his face.”“He was an obliging guy, a happy go lucky guy, and we just couldn't believe what happened that night, it is a complete nightmare.”“When I identified his body, I went into shock, I just couldn't believe it was Jeffrey.”The family are also haunted by an investigation into claims that a Garda withheld information for a number of months from Gardai who were investigating Jeffrey’s killing.A finding was made against the Garda arising out of an internal Garda disciplinary hearing, however the Garda in question, who denied the claim, retired while appealing the finding, and was, therefore, no longer subject to the Garda disciplinary process.A letter previously sent to Alan Hannan, by Fiosru, then the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), stated that despite the finding against the Garda in question, they could not progress matters.Gardai said they do not comment on internal disciplinary matters.They said the Hannan murder investiagtion remains an “open” and “live” inquiry.They asked anyone with information to contact Roxboro Road Garda Station 061-214340, the Garda confidential line 1800-666-111 or any Garda station.

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