Harrowing film of Garda shootings shown at inquest

HARROWING scenes of a double shooting in a foiled post office robbery were played at an inquest yesterday.

Dramatic CCTV footage from inside the Village Store in Lusk, north Co Dublin, showed armed robber Colm Griffin collapsing to the ground after he aimed his weapon at gardaí.

Seconds later, Eric Hopkins was shot in the chest as he appeared to run from the post office area towards the main shop.

A second bullet hit him in the head as he dropped to the ground.

An eerie silence fell over Dublin City Coroner’s Court as the tape, which lasted one minute 20 seconds, was played.

Some members of the dead men’s families cried quietly in the public gallery as they watched the grainy footage.

The third gang member, Gavin Farrelly, was seen striking the glass partition of the post office counter 12 times with a sledgehammer as the terrified workers huddled inside for safety.

The convicted criminal, jailed for 10 years for his part in the crime, sat emotionless at the back of the courthouse in handcuffs.

Griffin, 33, of Canon Lillis Avenue, and Hopkins, 24, of Lower Rutland Street, both Dublin, were shot dead by members of the emergency response unit as the robbers tried to steal €48,500 on the morning of May 26, 2005.

State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy told coroner Dr Brian Farrell both men died almost instantly from wounds.

She said Griffin was shot once in the chest, injuring his right lung and heart and causing internal bleeding.

“There were two litres of blood inside the chest cavity,” she said.

The pathologist revealed that Hopkins was first shot in the chest, causing internal injuries to his pancreas, right kidney and bowel, leading him to collapse. Surgery may then have saved his life, she said.

However, he was killed by a bullet fired immediately after, which hit him in his head causing brain damage.

Prof Cassidy said that while falling his head fell into the line of the second bullet.

She said it would have been almost impossible for that bullet to have been fired by a gunman while Hopkins was still standing upright.

“They would be totally unaware of the circumstances,” Prof Cassidy told the dead men’s families.

The inquest continues today under tight security.