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”.