George Nkencho's family tried to tell gardaí he had mental health issues, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

George Nkencho was tasered twice before being fatally wounded by armed gardaí in the driveway of his home in west Dublin, while it was claimed members of his family tried to alert officers that their brother had mental health issues, an inquest has heard.

A sitting of Dubin District Coroner’s Court heard detailed evidence for the first time of the fatal incident outside Mr Nkencho’s family home at Manorfields Drive, Clonee, Co Dublin, on December 30th, 2020, shortly after he had been involved in a disturbance at a nearby supermarket.

The third day of the inquest on Thursday heard that the deceased continued to wave a knife in “an extremely aggressive” manner even after being shot by members of the Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU), and when tasers appeared to have had no effect on him.

It also emerged that Garda units dispatched to investigate reports about the incident at the Eurospar outlet in Hartstown were made aware that the individual who had assaulted a store manager had “severe” mental health issues 10 minutes before he was shot by members of the ASU.

The young man, the eldest of five siblings whose family originally come from Nigeria, was pronounced dead a short time later at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

The deceased’s family claim the level of force used against him was disproportionate. However, the DPP directed that no prosecution should arise over the circumstances of Mr Nkencho’s death following an investigation by Fiosrú, previously known as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

One of the first gardaí to respond to reports of the incident at the Eurospar store, Garda Desmond Mulvihill, gave evidence that he had been alerted about what happened at 12:15pm.

Because he was alone in a patrol car and the case was classified as an armed incident, Garda Mulvihill said he waited for support to arrive before he and two other gardaí in an unmarked vehicle followed Mr Nkencho to a green area at the Cherryfield estate

Garda Mulvihill said he had recognised Mr Nkencho from previous incidents involving mental health issues, but could not remember his name.

He recalled that the other two gardaí tried to speak to Mr Nkencho but sought armed assistance after he began waving a knife at them.

Garda Mulvihill, who had stayed in his vehicle, said he could not make out what the deceased was saying.

The inquest heard all three gardaí followed Mr Nkencho in their cars before they got out on foot when he went through a shortcut towards the Manorfields estate.

When Mr Nkencho saw them, Garda Mulvihill said he took out his knife again and said, “Go back to the shop and get the man.”

At the same time, he said gardaí were telling members of the public to get indoors as they believed they were in immediate danger.

He said the deceased ignored firm and clear instructions given by armed gardaí who arrived on the scene to drop his weapon.

Garda Mulvihill recalled that Mr Nkencho became extremely volatile and aggressive and began brandishing his knife in the air as he walked to the entrance of his house.

Armed gardaí

He recounted how two female and one male member of his family who appeared at the door began shouting, but he could not make out what they were saying.

At the same time, the armed gardaí were warning them to go back inside for their safety and close the door.

Mr Nkencho was then tasered after he began violently swinging the knife at gardaí, according to Garda Mulvihill.

He said the first use of the taser had no effect, but Mr Nkencho fell to the ground when he was tasered a second time.

However, Garda Mulvihill said he became even more angry and aggressive when he got to his feet and was swinging the knife at head height.

He then heard two bangs before realising they were gunshots by one of the armed gardaí.

However, he said Mr Nkencho was still unaffected and continued to swing his knife aggressively at them before he heard further shots.

Garda Mulvihill said he could not say how many shots were fired as he was in shock.

He described seeing Mr Nkencho fall to the ground and his eyes rolling back in his head, while other family members came out and began shouting and crying erratically.

Garda Mulvihill said he only realised when the deceased was outside the house that it was where he lived because of previous dealings with him.

He believed he had shouted that to other gardaí, but it could have been “easily missed” because it was a very volatile situation.

Garda Mulvihill said he did not have a clue about the identity of a garda who had stated on an open radio channel to other gardaí 10 minutes before the fatal shooting that the man involved in the incident at the Eurospar store was known to gardaí and had severe mental health issues.

In reply to questions from the coroner, Myra Cullinane, the witness said Mr Nkencho had appeared “angry and agitated.”

"Mental issues"

Cross-examined by counsel for the deceased’s family, Eanna Molloy SC, Garda Mulvihill said he had not heard Mr Nkencho’s relatives trying to tell gardaí that he had “mental issues.”

Mr Molloy suggested that the witness took “refuge repeatedly in studious vagueness” in two interviews he gave to Fiosrú investigators.

However, Garda Mulvihill told counsel for An Garda Síochána, Ronan Kennedy SC, that he was “terrified” during the ordeal.

“I had not been in something like that before,” he added.

In earlier evidence, the inquest heard details of how gardaí, including two ASU unit,s were alerted by controllers at the Garda communications centre in Harcourt Square to reports of the disturbance at the Eurospar store.

Sergeant Deirdre Dempsey, who worked as a dispatcher in the control centre, said she had sought ASU back-up after being informed at 12.26pm by a local unit that the suspect had produced a knife.

Another message was then broadcast over the radio channel stating: “That fella is known to the guards. Severe mental health issues.”

However, the inquest heard that such information was not passed over a dedicated radio channel used only by ASU members who were sent to the scene, although they were also able to listen to the channel used by local units.

Communication logs show a garda reported at 12.34pm that Mr Nkencho had pointed a knife at them.

Two minutes later, Sgt Dempsey said she was informed that a number of shots had been fired.

She told the inquest she got no immediate response when she sought information on whether the shots had landed “on the target.”

However, she was informed a short time later that Mr Nkencho had been shot a number of times and was “gravely ill.”

Sgt Dempsey said she had twice checked if she needed to send an ambulance, but got no response.

However, it was confirmed a short time later that an ambulance had been called to the scene, while members of the ASU were carrying out CPR on Mr Nkencho.

Garda Kenneth Kennedy, a dispatcher for Critical and Firearm Incident Command who dealt solely with ASU units, told the inquest that armed gardaí on the scene made operational decisions.

Garda Kennedy said he had very little information to assist the ASU units responding to the incident, as he did not have Mr Nkencho’s name at the time.

He confirmed that no request had been made at any stage for a negotiator or on-scene commander.

However, Garda Kennedy said alerting the ASU to the incident was justified under Garda policy because someone had been assaulted by an individual who had a weapon.

Dr Cullinane confirmed that she had excused one juror during the course of the day.

The inquest before a jury of five women and four men will resume on Friday.