Senior gardaí made 23 errors leading to death

SENIOR gardaí in charge of the siege scene at Abbeylara made 23 fundamental mistakes of omission during the 25 hours John Carthy held them at bay, Mr Justice Robert Barr found.

The litany of failures led him to conclude: “I am satisfied that responsibility for his death rests primarily with the scene commanders and to a lesser extent with the ERU [Emergency Response Unit] tactical commander.”

The scene commanders were Superintendent Joe Shelly and Supt Michael Byrne, neither of whom, the report says, “had prior experience of dealing with any form of armed siege or with dangerous conduct which was motivated by mental illness”.

The tactical commander was Detective Sergeant Gerry Russell of the ERU, whose lower ranking meant he was answerable to the superintendents who remained in charge even though the ERU had arrived to take over.

Their arrival rendered a large number of the local gardaí at the scene “superfluous” but the superintendents failed to give these officers anything other than “vague instruction” and they remained on stand-by even though, the report says, they should have been withdrawn.

The result was “an unnecessary proliferation” of officers, “some of whom were bystanders who had no business being there”.

The very presence of unarmed gardaí on the road created the threat of injury or loss of life when Mr Carthy eventually emerged from the house.

Had the area been cleared, Justice Barr argued:

Mr Carthy would have had no potential targets to harm.

It might have been possible to tackle him from behind and disarm him.

The urgency with which the ERU had to act would have been avoided.

The failure to prepare for Mr Carthy’s sudden emergence with his shotgun, and the confusion that followed, were the greatest mistakes made by the scene commanders, the report found.

“It ought to have to have been apparent to all concerned that Mr Carthy’s particular agitation and violent conduct within the house during the late afternoon [shortly before he emerged] probably indicated that he regarded himself as being near the end of his tether,” Justice Barr said.

Another key mistake was made at the very start of the incident when Mr Carthy’s neighbours contacted his GP, Dr Patrick Cullen, who arrived at the scene and warned local officers Mr Carthy would be antagonistic towards the gardaí.

Dr Cullen’s comments were not probed further for explanation so neither commander had background information about Mr Carthy to pass on to the ERU negotiator.

This failure is ascribed directly to Supt Shelly who, it is postulated, knew Mr Carthy’s troubled history with the gardaí and did not want this information passed on because it was an embarrassment to the force.

Supt Shelly’s inaction in gathering information generally is criticised, particularly his failure to talk to Kevin Ireland, the only person who had meaningful contact with Mr Carthy during the incident.

Mr Carthy had rung Mr Ireland, a friend, and told him he had no intention of shooting anyone and that he wanted a solicitor. The officers who shot Mr Carthy did not know until after the event that he had stated he wouldn’t hurt anyone.

The belated passing on of the request for a solicitor, and subsequent failure to find a solicitor, was also a major mistake.

Justice Barr said a solicitor could have negotiated with the local authority to have the demolition of the family home postponed, and could have secured agreement from the Director of Public Prosecutions to postpone a decision on arresting Mr Carthy until after he had received medical treatment.

Other mistakes by the scene commanders included their failure to have Mr Carthy’s family, friends and psychiatrist interviewed for clues to his state of mind and their refusal to provide him with cigarettes when he was a heavy smoker.

They were also criticised for failing to have the guns and ammunition local gardaí had at the scene examined by ballistics experts. This omission led to confusion about whether bullets were fired by officers other than from the ERU.