Family of John Carthy to receive Barr report on his death

THE family of John Carthy, the young man shot dead by gardaí after a siege at his home, will today learn the conclusions of the tribunal of inquiry into his death.

Mr Justice Robert Barr’s long-awaited report is expected to make recommendations about garda training for handling incidents involving people with mental illness, the use of non-lethal weaponry and procedures for granting gun licences to applicants.

John Carthy, aged 27, was shot dead on April 20, 2000, following a 25-hour stand-off at the family home he shared with his widowed mother, Mrs Rose Carthy, in the Co Longford village of Abbeylara.

Mrs Carthy had contacted local gardaí on the afternoon of April 19 because she was concerned about her son after he locked himself into the house with the legally held shotgun he used for hunting. When local officers arrived at the house, Mr Carthy became agitated and fired a warning shot. A full-scale emergency ensued.

His death the following day brought the spotlight on the elite Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the heavily-armed garda unit dispatched to take control of the situation. Attempts to persuade Mr Carthy to leave the house using hostage negotiation tactics failed and he was shot four times after emerging holding his shotgun and refusing orders to drop it.

Among the controversial evidence heard during the tribunal was that of the former State Pathologist, Professor John Harbison who found that Mr Carthy was already falling to the ground when the fourth and fatal shot was fired.

The granting of a gun licence to Mr Carthy also came under scrutiny as he was under medical care for depression and there were concerns among local gardaí and his doctor over his state of mind.

The tribunal was dogged with problems from the start. Initially, the Government agreed only to having an Oireachtas committee inquire into Mr Carthy’s death and hearings began in 2001.

However, they were scrapped following a Supreme Court ruling that Oireachtas committees did not have the power to compel witnesses to attend.

Gardaí involved in the incident had refused to voluntarily give evidence. The Barr Tribunal which was subsequently set up also faced challenges to its authority and there were numerous heated exchanges between the chairman, Justice Barr, and main barrister for the gardaí, John Rogers SC.

Justice Barr had indicated he hoped to complete his report and recommendations by June 2005 but the target later moved to autumn last year and then spring 2006.

The final document runs to 700 pages.

John Carthy’s family, represented by his only sibling, Marie Carthy, are expected to make a statement on its findings later today. They are also expected to consider taking a civil action against An Garda Síochána and the State.