The four 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old spent four months on police bail while detectives carried out lengthy and complicated investigations into the death of Victoria College student Morgan Huelin.
The 16-year-old promising musician and sportsman was found unconscious in a lane in Trinity by a woman walking her dog.
He died a short time later.
Now the police have confirmed the suspects have been released from bail and they are no longer considering the possibility that Mr Huelin was murdered. However, the force say the five boys could face other charges which are currently being considered by the Law Officers’ Department. Details of the potential charges have not been released.
Today Deputy Jackie Hilton, who was Assistant Home Affairs Minister between 2008 and 2011, has criticised the police’s decision to tell the public that the boys had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
‘I am relieved to hear that the five young people bailed on suspicion of murder have now been released from police bail. I believed from the outset that it was wrong to arrest these young people on suspicion of murder when at the time of their arrest the cause of death had yet to be disclosed.
‘In my opinion the young people should have been arrested and bailed in connection with a suspicious death,’ she said.
Three of the suspects were arrested at a home yards from where Mr Huelin was found on Rue du Becquet Vincent in Trinity. Two more boys were arrested later that evening.
Detectives have been investigating the case – named Operation Emerald – for over four months and the teenagers have had their bail extended on two occasions while officers continued ‘specialist’ and ‘time specific’ forensic work.
Deputy Hilton added that she felt it was unfair to keep a murder investigation hanging over the teenagers’ heads for so long and added that she hoped they were not kept in ‘limbo’ for much longer.
‘I understand other charges remain under consideration by the Law Officers’ Department.
‘It goes without saying that my thoughts go out to the family of the young man who lost his life in such tragic circumstances,’ she said.
In a brief statement the States police, who declined to comment on why the investigation has taken so long, said: ‘Following the comprehensive investigation into the death of Morgan Huelin on 5 July, which included UK forensic analysis, the Law Officers’ Department, after consideration of the case file, have determined that the five suspects can be released from police bail in relation to their detention on suspicion of murder.
‘However, further offences remain under consideration by the Law Officers’ Department.’
On two occasions Deputy Hilton has asked questions in the States relating to the investigation. In July she asked Education Minister Rod Bryans what support his department were giving to the then suspects. And last month she asked Chief Minister Ian Gorst if there were plans to limit the amount of time children or young people can be kept on remand without charge.
Senator Gorst said a new draft Bail Law was due to be lodged next year that would include a limit for the amount of time a suspect can be kept on pre-charge bail. Beyond that time investigators would have to satisfy the Magistrate’s Court that the investigation is being conducted efficiently.
FOUR months after the death of 16-year-old Morgan Huelin, too many questions remain unanswered.
The real story of what happened that night – or stories, as there will inevitably be a number of different accounts – is still to be told and the community is no closer to getting closure on the tragic loss of a young life.
If crimes have been committed, those responsible must, of course, be tirelessly pursued. But as the weeks have passed, the question of why murder charges have hung over the heads of five teenage suspects for so long has been asked again and again.
Within minutes of yesterday’s police announcement that they had dropped their murder investigation, many Islanders were posting comments on social media expressing outrage that these youngsters had been left in a terrible limbo for months.
The police have said that the findings of their investigations are being examined by lawyers at the Law Officers’ Department, who will decide whether the former murder suspects will face any other charges.
Back in July, detectives felt that they had reasonable grounds to launch a murder inquiry and focused significant resources on getting to the truth. In a democracy in which officers police by consent, investigations must be carried out in as open and transparent way as possible.
That requirement is particularly true in Jersey where allegations of official cover-ups and failures to investigate have led to the ongoing inquiry into historical child abuse.
But in this case, should the police have gone public so soon about the launch of a murder inquiry?
Could they have simply said that they were investigating a suspicious death and the teenagers were helping with inquiries?
We do not yet know the answers to those questions.
Whether there are further charges or not, the police must explain their decisions. Public confidence in the investigation depends on it.
If anyone is charged with an offence, the facts about what happened that night will be placed in the public domain at a court hearing. If there are no charges, the questions of who, what, where, when and how will be answered at an inquest.
This case may well show why inquests – hearings to establish the facts surrounding a person’s death – are held in open session and why it is such a pillar of open justice that they are reported fully and accurately.
