Garda died from injuries after he was struck by motorcycle while operating a checkpoint, inquest hears

Seán McCárthaigh

A garda killed while working at a speed checkpoint in north Dublin earlier this year died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries from a collision with a motorcycle, an inquest has heard.

Garda Kevin Flatley (49) was fatally struck by a high-powered Yamaha R1 1000cc motorcycle on the R132 at Lanestown, Co Dublin, on May 11th 2025, while operating a checkpoint.

The married father of two from Moylaragh Crescent, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, who had worked as a garda for over 26 years, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision which occurred on the old Swords to Balbriggan road shortly before 1pm.

At the opening of his inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday, the deceased’s wife, Úna Flatley, gave evidence of formally identifying her husband’s body to gardaí at the Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall.

The brief hearing was also attended by his parents, Michael and Breda Flatley.

Coroner Aisling Gannon acknowledged that the opening of the inquest was likely to cause additional stress to relatives of Garda Flatley following his tragic death and also noted that it had been his birthday just a short period ago.

Ms Gannon said the results of a postmortem showed that he had died from multiple traumatic injuries from a road traffic collision between a pedestrian and a motorcycle.

Inspector Richard Byrne applied for a three-month adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act.

Insp Byrne told the coroner that the Garda investigation into the fatal incident was still ongoing.

Garda Flatley, who was attached to the Roads Policing Unit at Dublin Castle, was the 90th member of An Garda Síochána to be killed in the line of duty.

Following his death, An Garda Síochána notified social media companies about content on various platforms which purported to give an eyewitness account of the fatal incident.

Gardaí said such commentary was “completely inaccurate” and had “no basis whatsoever in fact.”

They also expressed concern about the rise in the level of misinformation, disinformation and fake news and appealed to members of the public to independently verify information they were reading on social media and messaging apps.

Offering her condolences to Garda Flatley’s family, Ms Gannon explained that the details of the fatal incident would be heard when the full inquest is heard at a later stage.

The coroner granted the application for an adjournment and listed February 11, 2026 for an update on the progress of the Garda investigation.

The motorcyclist involved in the collision – Izzet Can Berber from Balgriffin, Dublin 13 – died from his injuries in the intensive care unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin on May 31st 2025.

The married father, who was born in Turkey, was in his 30s and had a son and two stepchildren.