Man released without charge in suspicious death case
A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions who will decide if any charges should be brought.
The woman, named locally as Carmel Breen, aged 57, was found unconscious at her home in the Willowvale area of Ballybrack shortly after 7.30pm on Friday by gardaí, after they were called to a domestic incident.
The woman — a mother of three grown-up children — was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor.
A 60-year-old man was arrested at the scene in connection with the incident.
He was taken to Dún Laoghaire Garda Station and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows for a maximum period in custody of 24 hours, excluding rest breaks.
The scene was immediately preserved by gardaí pending the arrival of the technical bureau. A full forensic examination of the house was conducted on Saturday.
A postmortem was conducted on Ms Breen at the city morgue.
A Garda spokeswoman yesterday said the man arrested had been released without charge. “A file will now be prepared for the information of the DPP,” she said.
She said gardaí were not releasing details of the postmortem and the status of the investigation had not changed.
“We are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the death,” said the spokeswoman.
She said gardaí would not be naming the woman until the family agreed to it.
Neighbours in Willowvale were still in shock yesterday. Many came out of their homes after hearing a commotion outside Ms Breen’s house on Friday night.
One neighbour said Ms Breen and her husband had lived in the house for more than 30 years. They have three sons — Stuart, Derek and Trevor — all aged in their 30s.
Several neighbours said the family was well respected in the area.
Gardaí have not issued any appeals to the public for information and inquiries are continuing at Dún Laoghaire Garda Station.
