Gardaí ‘shut down’ mental health warnings before George Nkencho was shot, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

A brother of George Nkencho has claimed efforts to explain to gardaí that his brother had mental health issues were “quickly shut down” just before he was fatally wounded by armed officers outside their family home in west Dublin five years ago.

Emmanuel Nkencho (25) told the inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Friday that there was nothing unusual about his brother’s behaviour earlier that day.

Mr Nkencho also observed that he believed the knife that his brother had been carrying could have been taken from him in the confrontation with members of the Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU).

His brother, George (27) sustained fatal gunshot wounds in the incident outside their 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 young man, the eldest of five siblings whose family originally came from Nigeria, was pronounced dead a short time later at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown.

The inquest had already heard evidence that Mr Nkencho had carried out an unprovoked assault on a manager at the Eurospar store in Hartstown as well as threatening staff with a knife, a short time before the fatal incident.

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 (formerly known as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC)).

Emmanuel gave evidence on the fourth day of the inquest that he had returned home for Christmas from studying at college in Bournemouth.

Mr Nkencho said he was upstairs talking to his sister, Gloria, when they heard a commotion through the window and went downstairs with their sister, Grateful, to discover a large number of gardaí outside their house with George in front of their door.

“I was shocked because I didn’t know why they would want George,” he remarked.

Mr Nkencho said Gloria tried to explain to gardaí that their brother was unwell, but they were told to “get back” into the house just before he saw his brother being shot.

“I didn’t think that the gardaí even carried guns,” he added.

He witnessed his brother being shot a second time after he had swung a knife at gardaí.

Performing CPR

As his sisters were screaming and crying, Mr Nkencho recalled: “I didn’t know what I was looking at. I then turned around because I didn’t want to see any more.”

He then heard three more shots and looked to find his brother lying on the ground with his arms spread out, after which someone started performing CPR.

The witness also recalled seeing smoke come from his brother’s body and a stretcher covered in blood.

Mr Nkencho said gardaí refused to tell his family what had happened, even though they knew they were the deceased’s siblings.

He said he told four gardaí who had gone into the house to leave after a few minutes, as he had not permitted them to be there.

“I never witnessed anything like this in my life. I never witnessed anyone being shot in front of their house,” he added.

Mr Nkencho said he was unable to eat or sleep after what happened, and it was difficult to walk past the place where his brother was killed every day.

“I just see it playing over and over in my head,” he remarked.

Mr Nkencho said gardaí knew his brother had mental health issues as they had previously called to the house about them, and he recognised one of the gardaí from one of those visits “when George had an episode.”

He said it would not be normal for his brother to carry a knife with him.

The inquest heard he discovered two holes in the hall window the following day.

In reply to questions from his family’s counsel, Eanna Molloy SC, Mr Nkencho said he believed gardaí could hear what his sister was trying to tell them as she was speaking “quite loud.”

However, he claimed she was “quickly shut down” when she tried to explain about her brother’s mental health.

Another brother of the deceased, Victor (21), outlined how he was at a nearby shop when he received a panic call from one of his sisters to get back home.

'Blurry scene'

Mr Nkencho, who was aged 16 at the time, said he was “trembling and confused” after returning to a “blurry scene” to discover his brother had been shot.

He said there was “nothing out of the ordinary” when he saw George earlier that morning.

“Everything seemed normal with George in the days leading up to the incident,” he said.

Earlier, video footage of the fatal shooting, which was captured by a member of the public out walking his dog in a nearby park, was shown to the jury.

It recorded four shots being fired at Mr Nkencho at close distance in four seconds, with a fifth and final shot heard four seconds late,r after which he fell to the ground.

The deceased’s mother, Blessing Nkencho, sat quietly in the back row of the courtroom, wiping tears from her eyes with a handkerchief as she watched the footage of her son’s final moments.

Several of her children left the hearing temporarily as the video was played a number of times to the jury.

Counsel for An Garda Síochána, Ronan Kennedy SC, told the inquest that there would be evidence that a total of six shots were fired, with the video not capturing the first shot.

He also pointed out that it did not record two attempts to taser Mr Nkencho before shots were fired by members of the ASU or the deployment of pepper spray.

An eyewitness, Alan O’Reilly, who recorded footage of the fatal incident, said he had been walking his dog when he noticed an ASU jeep come into the Manorfields estate.

Mr O’Reilly said he could hear a lot of shouting, including someone calling out: “Get down, get down.”

He admitted thinking originally that gardaí were just shooting in the air and not at the deceased.

Cross-examined by Mr Kennedy, the witness said he did not recall anything about tasers being used.

He agreed with counsel that a lot of things had happened before he started filming the incident.

In reply to a question from Mr Molloy, the witness said he could not be sure if Mr Nkencho had his back to the camera when one shot was fired.

A postman working in the area who witnessed the standoff told the inquest that Mr Nkencho “looked like a man in clear distress.”

Derek Keenan said the deceased did not obey any of the repeated instructions issued by gardaí.

However, he observed that he was not sure that Mr Nkencho was “in the right frame of mind to obey orders.”

The postman said the deceased was making very erratic and unpredictable movements, and he heard gardaí issuing a warning about tasers.

He recalled seeing Mr Nkencho staying on his feet after a taser had struck him on his side or stomach, which appeared to make him agitated.

Mr Keenan said he believed that a garda also attempted to spray Mr Nkencho with something after he appeared to have fallen to the ground after a second taser had been used.

He claimed Mr Nkencho and an armed garda were “at touching distance.”

Another eyewitness, Ray Dunne, said the distance between them was probably two metres at most.

Mr Dunne gave evidence that he believed there was “an excess” of shouting by gardaí at Mr Nkencho.

The inquest before a jury of five women and four men was adjourned until next Tuesday.

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