Gardaí have been unable to establish an “act of omission” that had been referenced repeatedly by a senior detective overseeing a high-profile murder investigation who took his own life in a garda station in Dublin over six years ago.
Detective Superintendent James Tierney, who investigated the circumstances of the death of Detective Superintendent Colm Fox in Ballymun garda station on February 10th 2018, told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court that it had not been possible to determine what the omission might have been.
Det Supt Fox (56) – a married father of three from Seabury Glen in Malahide, Co Dublin – was the lead investigator into the fatal shooting of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall, Dublin on February 5th 2016 by members of the Hutch crime gang.
The murder of Mr Byrne – a senior figure in the Kinahan crime cartel – during a daring attack on a boxing weigh-in at the hotel sparked a deadly gangland feud between the rival groups.
A related murder trial of Patrick Hutch at the Special Criminal Court was taking place at the time of Det Supt Fox’s death. However, the case collapsed after the prosecution entered a nolle prosequi against the accused in February 2019.
The fourth and final day of the inquest into Det Supt Fox’s death on Thursday heard that the deceased was found in the ensuite of his office in Ballymun on the evening of February 10th 2018 after his wife, Edel, had called the station over concern that she could not contact her husband on his mobile phone.
He was discovered with a single gunshot wound to the head with a Smith & Wesson revolver that he had taken out from the station earlier that day by his side.
Det Supt Tierney said an envelope marked “urgent” had been left by Det Supt Fox on his desk for his colleague, Superintendent Brian Daly, while several letters for various family members had been left in the station’s postbox.
He told the inquest that torn paper taken from a bin in Det Supt Fox’s office was assessed as being two draft versions of the letter written for Supt Daly.
Det Supt Tierney said the letters referred to an “act of omission” during the early stages of the investigation into the Regency murder and noted that other gardaí and family members had observed that he was under stress at the time of his death.
The inquest heard Det Supt Fox had a sizeable workload as a senior investigating officer (SIO) in the Dublin North garda division which had recorded nine murders, ten attempted murders, 47 discharges of firearms, 15 cash-in-transit robberies and 424 sexual assaults in the period between 2015 and 2018.
He claimed a detailed and thorough investigation had involved 138 witnesses, an examination of devices including computers and phones as well as e-mails and paperwork in Det Supt Fox’s office including material relating to the Regency trial.
“It was not possible to identify the act of omission,” he told the coroner, Myra Cullinane.
The inquest heard an investigation into Det Supt Fox’s death by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission had been discontinued.
However, Det Supt Tierney said a separate investigation by GSOC into the issuing and access to firearms by gardaí is “nearing conclusion.”
He described Det Supt Fox as a very experienced criminal investigator who was “highly respected and valued” by colleagues as well as being “a very proud member who made a significant contribution” to An Garda Síochána.
Returning a verdict of death by suicide, Dr Cullinane said she was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased had intended to take his own life.
The coroner remarked that it was tragic that a man who had been described as a perfectionist felt the solution to a mistake he had perceived as “catastrophic” in his work was to take his own life.
An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Padraic McMahon, told the inquest that a HSA investigation had concluded that work-related stress was a factor in Det Supt Fox’s death.
Mr McMahon said the HSA’s senior psychologist believed that the deceased was stressed and became “overwhelmed” by some omission in an aspect of his work from two years earlier.
The HSA also recommended that An Garda Síochána should put in place “a more robust system” that would provide “clear, immediate, expert advice and assistance” to members experiencing work-related stress.
Mr McMahon noted that Det Supt Fox had a heavy workload and had volunteered to cover the work of a detective inspector in one district in the Dublin North division.
The inquest heard that in addition to being the SIO in a large number of cases, he was also responsible for high-visibility policing, training and dealing with GSOC complaints in his division.
Mr McMahon said there was no record of the number of hours worked by Det Supt Fox but they were in excess of the minimum number required.
He also noted that Det Supt Fox had declined assistance with his heavy workload.
The HSA said notes left for family members by Det Supt Fox made references to a mistake and an omission as well as various references to feeling serious and immense stress which had dated from February 2016 until the time of his death.
However, Mr McMahon said there had been no breach of health and safety in the workplace legislation in relation to the fatal incident.
The HSA concluded that An Garda Síochána had not been in a position to act about any stress being experienced by Det Supt Fox as he had not reported any concern to his employer.
Mr McMahon also noted that Det Supt Fox had not engaged with any support services made available to gardaí.
The HSA inspector also remarked that the deceased may not have been qualified to carry a firearms authorisation card at the time of his death.
The inquest heard that gardaí are required to undergo refresher training three times in every 12-month period in order to be authorised to be issued with a firearm but that Det Supt Fox’s last recorded training had been in October 2016.
Chief Superintendent Kevin Daly, who is overseeing a review and consolidation of policy in relation to firearms within An Garda Síochána, told the inquest that there are now around 1,200 fewer gardaí licensed to carry a firearm since 2018.
Chief Supt Daly said “a business case” now had to be made for each detective in the force to be licensed to carry a firearm where previously they were automatically entitled to be issued with a weapon.
The witness said a new draft policy governing firearm use by gardaí was currently being examined by a senior leadership team within An Garda Síochána.
The force’s chief medical officer, Oghenovo Oghuvbu, told the inquest that various support services were available to gardaí in 2018 including an employee assistance service, a peer support network and a 24/7 helpline.
However, Dr Oghuvbu said there had been an expansion of support services in recent years on foot of recommendations contained in a report by the Policing Authority to make them “more relevant and more accessible.”
They included the rolling out of a “mental health first aid programme” which had already been made available to 2,000 gardaí.
Asked by Mr Harty if senior gardaí had been trained to look for “red flags” rather than relying on gardaí under stress to self-refer for help, Dr Oghubvu said they had received information about identifying behavioural changes and other patterns that might highlight individuals at risk.
He said everyone in the organisation, regardless of rank, was encouraged to “step up” in relation to anyone experiencing stress in order “to allow interventions to happen.”
The chief State pathologist, Linda Mulligan, who carried out a postmortem on the body of the deceased, said Det Supt Fox had died from a traumatic brain injury as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Dr Mulligan observed death would have been “instantaneous.”
At the conclusion of the inquest, the coroner said she recommended and endorsed a new Garda directive about the issuing, carrying and use of firearms whose implementation should be prioritised.
Dr Cullinane also called for the introduction of a digital system of recording the issuing of firearms to gardaí to replace the existing “hard copy” system.
She also recommended continuing work on communicating and promoting the force’s health and wellbeing strategy among all ranks including the full rollout of the mental health first aid kit.
After the hearing, the deceased’s son, David, said his father had been taken “far too soon” and described the circumstances of his death as “distressing and tragic” when the strain and responsibility of his job became “all too much.”
“It is so sad that his life finished as it did and we hope that no other family goes through the loss that we have endured,” he added.
Mr Fox expressed hope that the coroner’s recommendations would be followed “in time to come.”
