Murdered girl's family win hotel safety probe

10 July 2003 by
Murdered girl's family win hotel safety probe

The family of a trainee hotel manager shot dead at the Jurys Inn in Limerick last year has won an 18-month fight for an investigation into work practices at the hotel.

The Irish Health and Safety Authority has begun the investigation following a picket protest by the family of 24-year-old Grainne Dillon.

Dillon, from Cork, was shot and left to bleed to death in the hotel by a Portuguese porter, who had raided the cash registers and safe to fund a trip home.

The porter, 27-year-old Paulo Alexander Nascimento, is serving life in prison for the murder.

Since her murder, Dillon's family have been campaigning for an inquiry into the circumstances that led up to the incident, the level of security at the hotel and the protection and training provided for the staff.

According to her father, Michael Dillon, on the night of the murder she had been left in charge of 300 guests, despite being a trainee, with only a reception desk panic button for protection.

He said: "We believe that if staff levels had been adequate that night, she would still be alive."

Jurys Doyle Group declined to comment on the case but said it had "the greatest sympathy for the family".

It claimed that staff security procedures and mandatory training were in place in all its hotels and promised "full assistance" to the inquiry.

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