Ombudsman may review shooting of armed man
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) said it would keep a close eye on the garda probe and had the power to take further action when the body becomes operational next year.
“We will be watching this with interest, but we have no role other than that,” said commissioner Conor Brady, one of three commissioners heading the GSOC.
“But when we become operational, if there were good reasons to review the investigation, we could do so. That power is open to us under the act, we can investigate any matter in the public interest if we deem it in the public interest.”
The Garda Inspectorate, a separate body to the GSOC charged with reviewing policies and procedures in the force, yesterday said the Gort incident would form part of an already established review into how the force handles such situations.
But an inspectorate spokesman said it was not setting up a specific investigation into Gort.
He said the body was receiving briefings from the gardaí in relation to the incident. He said they hoped to speak directly to the scene commanders at Gort and those at the location of previous incidents, including Roscrea.
The armed man injured at the Gort siege, Anthony Burke, was in a stable condition yesterday.
Gardaí said the Emergency Response Unit fired one live shot at Mr Burke. He was hit in the chest after he failed to drop his weapon when four rounds of bean bag shots, a less than lethal weapon, failed to incapacitate him.
An internal garda investigation into the incident has been set up.
Commissioner Brady said he expected lessons could be learned from the incident but said there wasn’t any reason why the GSOC should look into the Gort incident any more than any other incident.
“I can’t really see that we would have an operational reason to get involved.”
He said the GSOC had already developed a good relationship with the gardaí.
“The guards have been extremely cooperative. There were one or two other cases we have expressed an interest in and they’ve made the investigation files available to us.”
The Garda Inspectorate spokesman said they had set up a review into Abbeylara-like situations following a request by justice minister Michael McDowell.
“The review is on-going and will take into account garda practices and procedures in dealing with recent incidents, including the incident at Gort.”
He said the review would examine less than lethal weaponry, including the use of bean bag shots in Gort.
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