Former mayor ‘misled’ over reference for soldier convicted of rape

The family of an Irish soldier jailed for rape has said that the former mayor of Londonderry was “misled” into providing a character reference for him.

Brian Tierney has apologised for providing the reference for Kielan Mooney, which he later withdrew.

Mr Tierney said on Wednesday that he has reached out to the victim in the case to explain his actions.

Mooney, 31, of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years last week at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin for raping a woman who was a fellow member of the Irish Defence Forces in 2021.

Mr Tierney, a former mayor of Derry City and Strabane, had his membership of the SDLP suspended this week and resigned the party whip.

The Mooney family released a statement through the law firm Madden and Finuncane “to put on the record some important information” relating to the reference.

The statement continued: “As a family we believe it is important to confirm and clarify the full circumstances in which Councillor Tierney provided this reference.

“Councillor Tierney provided a character reference at the request of our family – he wasn’t told that it related to a pending criminal charge and wasn’t told about the seriousness of those charges.

“The truth is that Councillor Brian Tierney was misled into giving this character reference – and we fully apologise to him and his family.

“As has already been stated publicly, once Councillor Tierney was eventually made aware of the seriousness of the criminal charges in this case, he withdrew the character reference.

“We accept full responsibility and apologise for our part in asking for a character reference without Councillor Tierney being aware of the full facts and the full information.

“We deeply regret this and regret the impact this decision has had.”

Mr Tierney said he provided the reference after being told it related to an assault charge.

He told the BBC: “I then became aware of the nature of the charges.

“I spoke to the family, I made sure that the reference I had provided was attached to these charges and I immediately contacted the family solicitor and immediately withdraw that character reference because I was not in any way knowledgeable about the reasons why I was providing the reference and I was misled and I was therefore not willing to stand over it.”

The councillor said he was “heartbroken” by his actions.

He added: “The very thought that my actions could have added undue hurt or pain to the survivor in this case absolutely breaks my heart.

“I have had a horrendous time over this….that is nowhere near what the survivor in this case feels.

“The very thought that my actions, unbeknown to myself at the time, may have caused her added pain, it breaks my heart.

“I have taken steps to try to explain to the survivor in this case my rationale at that time for providing the reference and also my rationale for removing it.

“I have apologised to her for being anywhere near this case at all.”

Mr Tierney said he should have done more background work before providing the reference.

He said: “That is on me, that is my mistake.”

An SDLP spokesperson said the party had nothing further to add to a statement released earlier this week when Mr Tierney resigned the party whip.

That party statement said: “We welcome Brian’s decision and his genuine desire to address the issues raised by the issuing of this character reference and his actions to reach out to those affected by this.

“We are conducting a review around the provision of references.

“Tackling violence against women and girls remains a key priority for the SDLP and our thoughts are with the victim at the centre of this case.”

Speaking at Stormont on Wednesday, SDLP leader Claire Hanna defended the party’s handling of the issue.

She said: “We equivocated in no way about the mistake that Brian Tierney made.

“We triggered our internal processes, responded very quickly about the seriousness of the allegation and Brian is no longer an SDLP councillor.”