Aunt of George Nkencho tells inquest events of the day were 'torture'

Seán McCárthaigh

An aunt of George Nkencho, who formally identified his body after he had been shot dead by armed gardaí has described the events of the day as “torture.”

However, Grace Anyanwu said she felt at peace at seeing her nephew’s body because he was “sleeping like an angel.”

Ms Anyanwu told the inquest into her nephew’s death that she attended Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall, Dublin on December 31, 2020 – the day after Mr Nkencho had been fatally injured in an incident outside his family home at Manorfields Drive, Clonee, Co Dublin.

Ms Anyanwu said her heart “calmed down” after seeing his body in the mortuary.

“He was just an angel. When I walked into that room, I felt peace but so sad that he didn’t come back,” she told coroner Myra Cullinane.

Ms Anyanwu said she had been “expecting a horrible situation following the fatal shooting.”

“It is not a day I want to remember again,” said Ms Anyanwu. “It was torture.”

She gave evidence that she had got a call from her niece, Grateful, on December 30, 2020 to say “they are shooting” but her nephew’s name was not mentioned at the time.

Ms Anyanwu said there were calls all over the house as Mr Nkencho’s siblings were phoning her own children.

She recalled not really understanding what was happening but heard her own two daughters screaming.

Ms Anyanwu said her nieces were calling for her to go to their house as their mother was not at home.

She described her house having “a vibration” as everyone was “agitated.”

The witness explained that she is not the biological sister of the deceased’s mother, Blessing Nkencho, but that they were best friends and like sisters and she was regarded by her children as their aunt.

When she arrived outside Manorfields Drive within ten minutes after getting the phone call, Ms Anyanwu said she was prevented by gardaí from going into the house because it was a crime scene, but she could see her nephew on the ground.

She also recalled seeing two armed gardaí being taken away from the scene in a vehicle.

Ms Anyanwu said George’s siblings – Gloria, Grateful and Emmanuel – were screaming at her from a window in the house to come in.

The witness said she did not feel comfortable calling their mother who had gone shopping because of what happened.

Ms Anyanwu said Grateful had shouted at her that George was dead but she believed, from what she could see, that he was still alive as ambulance crews were still working on him.

“It looked like he was going to be OK,” she recalled.

Mr Nkencho was shot six times by a member of the Garda Armed Support Unit after officers had responded to emergency calls after the deceased had carried out an unprovoked assault on a manager at the nearby Eurospar store in Hartstown as well as threatening staff with a knife.

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 the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (now known as Fiosrú).

Ms Anyanwu said she met George’s brother, Victor, outside the house and he said he was going to go to the hospital.

She said Blessing was screaming when she arrived at the scene as gardaí were refusing to let her into her house.

Ms Anyanwu said Blessing was “devastated” as she stood on a Garda vehicle to try and get in to see her children.

She said George’s mother was crying, and she tried to reassure her that her son would be fine and had been taken away in an ambulance.

Ms Anyanwu said she was pleading with gardaí until one officer arranged to have the children brought out of the house.

Although Grateful was saying that her brother was dead, the witness told her niece not to be saying that to her mother, as it had not been confirmed that George had died.

Ms Anyanwu said everyone returned to her house, where gardaí arrived to notify them that Mr Nkencho had died.“It was all very emotional,” she added as she recalled that Grateful was rolling on the ground crying.

Ms Anyanwu said Blessing had jumped at the garda with the shock and had to be dragged back from a window.

“It was very devastating and my heart was very broken,” she observed. “It was very traumatising. We were all shattered.”

Ms Anyanwu said Blessing did not eat or sleep for three days, while she had a pain in her shoulders “from holding everyone.”

The inquest before a jury of five women and four men is continuing this afternoon.