Parents of scrambler victim Grace Lynch to meet Taoiseach as they call for even tougher laws
The parents of a tragic 16-year-old girl killed by a scrambler bike are meeting the Taoiseach as they call on the government to implement harsher laws.Grace Lynch (16) died after a scrambler struck her while she was walking across a pedestrian crossing on the Ratoath Road in Finglas, Dublin, on January 25th.Now her parents Siobhan and Martin, who successfully lobbied the government to implement ‘Grace’s Law’ in April have been told that Taoiseach Michael Martin will meet with them on Friday, while Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has agreed to meet them next week.‘Grace’s Law’ saw scramblers being banned from public places - but now her parents want the government to take the extra step to ensure youngsters are deterred from using the dangerous vehicles.“Essentially we want them to follow up and get tough with this type of behaviour,” Martin Lynch, Grace’s Dad said.“We’ve been looking for a meeting with them since day one so it’s finally happening now and we might as well grab it with both hands.”Grace’s mother Siobhan, who has been tirelessly campaigning ever since her daughter’s tragic death, said she hopes the government can get serious about giving gardai the power to properly pursue scramblers.“We want guards to have the reassurance that they can do their jobs without having to be punished,” she said.“That’s what we want to see - that the guards go do their jobs with no repercussions.”Siobhan also wants the government to look at implementing laws to deter parents of teenagers from purchasing scramblers for them.“We’re looking to see if they can do anything about age limits. A lot of these young fellas are underage and there’s no punishment for that. There should be some sort of punishment for those who are providing them with a scrambler,” she said.Siobhan added that she is hopeful the government is listening to her and that things are moving in a more positive direction.“We do feel they are really starting to listen finally and it’s great that they’re willing to sit down with us.”The development comes after the devastated parents told the Irish Mirror earlier this week of the torment and abuse they were receiving online.Vile trolls were even making fake AI pictures of Grace - including of the tragic teen on a scrambler - in a bid to terrorise her parents.“At the moment it’s a lot more false accounts than anything else and putting up statements about Grace, using her image and basically not nice stuff,” Grace’s dad Martin told the Irish Mirror.“I don’t know what their endgame is. Is it to antagonise, is it an act of defiance, I don’t know what it is but it’s extremely childish and sick.“There were people making up stories trying to say they were in a relationship with her and all this type of stuff. There was one image of Grace on a scrambler. It’s not nice stuff to be looking at.”“I take that as intimidation and harassment and it’s just not a nice thing to have out there.“It’s hard,” Martin said. “There’s comments going up online with people saying 'give over, it’s just kids having fun’ and all this type of stuff.”Martin was speaking to us in light of yet another shocking incident involving an electric bike over the Bank Holiday weekend. A young Garda, who was on patrol and monitoring scramblers in the Hartstown Green area of Blanchardstown, was run over by a teen on an e-bike at around 5pm on Sunday.The Garda was rushed to hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The teenage juvenile, meanwhile, was arrested and has subsequently been released without charge while a file will be prepared for the Garda National Youth Diversion Bureau.Martin said he was not surprised by the development - but was thankful to see that the gardai in question were actively going after teens on the bikes at the time.“I’m not surprised that that happened to be honest with you. But the positive part of this is it looks like the guards are actually trying to stop it. But I think the government needs to give them a bit more power and basically indemnify them for doing their jobs. They should be allowed to do their jobs. They shouldn’t have one hand behind their backs,” Martin said.“There’s no regulation around it. It’s like the Wild West. We will be asking the government to look at how they are sold because even if they seize them they are being replaced.”In a message to the thugs who continue to use scramblers and e-bikes illegally the grieving father added:“They think they're having fun., They’re not toys. They’re lethal weapons in the wrong hands and when it happens to one of their family I wonder would they have the same attitude that they have now.“When someone they love gets taken away from them by some idiot on a bike.”Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
