Inquest of Stephen Thomas Conlan – Press Release

Today the inquest touching upon the death of Stephen Conlan concluded. Mr. Conlan was sadly killed on the Mountjoy Road, Coalisland, Co. Tyrone on 24th January 2016. Following the death it became clear that the surrounding circumstances had not been properly investigated. An inquest was opened which began September 2021 and concluded today, 19th January 2023. The family always felt Mr. Conlan’s tragic death was not properly investigated by the PSNI and today’s findings verify this.

The failures that the Coroner found included:

• Failure to properly investigate a further vehicle obviously near the scene of Steven’s death at a relevant time until after the inquest had begun;
• Failure to properly conduct house to house inquiries;
• Failure to properly record investigative actions (or not actually pursue the actions);
• Failure to seek out relevant CCTV from the area;
• Failure to properly consider mobile phone evidence until after the inquest had begun;
• Failure to attend a house party where relevant witnesses were in attendance;
• Failure to properly store clothing to allow for forensic testing.

The family wanted to make the following press statement;

“On Saturday 23rd January 2016, we awoke to news that Steven was killed on the road. He had been out with a friend and walked his usual route to his home nearby, a route he had taken numerous times before. We have been asking questions for years as to how Steven came to meet his death. Unfortunately, there have been misreports as to what happened to Steven. Whilst he had consumed some alcohol that evening, when he left his friend he was not stumbling or staggering.

The family want to thank the Coroner for holding an inquest which allowed us to properly consider all of the evidence. It became clear as the evidence developed that we were badly let down by the police. Their failures meant that we may never find out what happened to Steven on that fateful evening. It is clear that we have been failed by the PSNI in this matter. We hope that lessons can be learned to ensure that other families can avoid similar disappointments in the future. 
ENDS”