Assault investigation stalled after man's death

THE mother of a young homeless man believes her son died as a direct result of being assaulted by three men as he slept rough on the streets of Dublin, an inquest heard yesterday.

But the investigation into the incident which led to the death of Robert Lecke stalled because the 28-year-old Englishman slipped into a coma from which he never recovered and gardaí were unable to interview him.

His mother Evelyn Lecke, who travelled from her Hartlepool home for the inquest, has requested the case be featured on RTÉ’s Crimeline programme and the details of his death reported in newspapers in the hope new leads may emerge.

Sergeant Patrick Conlon, who led the investigation into the suspicious death, said there were certain criteria to be met for inclusion in Crimeline and they were not covered in this case. He said it was possible Mr Lecke was assaulted but garda inquiries could not substantiate this.

Mrs Lecke told Dublin Coroner’s Court that her son, a former British soldier who arrived in Ireland in late November 2001, phoned a week before Christmas last year and said he had been assaulted.

“He claimed he was attacked by three men. He would take the beating and get on with it.

“The fact he went into the hospital means he must have been in pure pain, otherwise he would have shrugged it off,” she said.

Mrs Lecke, who has two daughters, said she wanted answers to a number of questions. She said a doctor at St James Hospital told her Mr Lecke had received a serious kicking to the kidneys.

She also alleged in court that the dialysis machine her son was hooked up to was turned off for three hours shortly before he died.

The inquest heard that Mr Lecke, who stayed in a number of city centre hostels and slept on the streets during his time in Dublin, was admitted to hospital on a number of occasions around Christmas and used an alias. Each time, he was suffering from a number of injuries and said variously he had been in a traffic accident, he had fallen off a pavement and he was assaulted.

The last time he was admitted to St James Hospital, on New Year’s Day this year, Mr Lecke was in a serious condition, suffering from severe swelling to his legs, bronchitis and dangerously low blood pressure. Gardaí were called two days later after Mr Lecke slipped into a coma.

Sergeant Conlon said he was told a man was seriously ill in hospital and that he may have been assaulted. They expected to interview him when he regained consciousness but Mr Lecke died on February 2.

The inquest was adjourned until January 23 to allow for further investigations and the deputy state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, who was not available yesterday, to give evidence.