Gardaí ‘did their best’ to dissuade cliff jump man

GARDAÍ did their best to dissuade a man from jumping to his death just hours after his partner was brutally slain, indications from an independent investigation suggest.

The trained negotiators spent more than five hours talking to Stephen Goodson-Ukiwo at the cliff-face at Ballybunion on Tuesday night.

They traced him to there shortly after they found the body of his murdered partner, Polish woman Katarzyna Bartkowiak, 27, at her rented home in Tralee.

Despite the efforts of the negotiators, Mr Goodson-Ukiwo leaped off the cliffs and plummeted to the sea 50 metres below.

The Garda Ombudsman Commission was called into the investigate the Garda’s handling of the case immediately afterwards. That is standard in situations where gardaí are involved in the events leading up to the death, serious injury or disappearance of a person.

A team from the commission, thought to number five investigators, were at the scene on Tuesday night.

They spoke to all the gardaí involved, including the negotiating team. They also examined the records of the negotiators, which detailed all the communications with Mr Goodson-Ukiwo and other relevant information over that five-to-six hour period.

It is understood all the indications so far show the negotiators did a “good job” and did everything they could have been expected to do to try and save Mr Goodson-Ukiwo from killing himself.

The garda negotiators are understood to be deeply affected by the tragedy.

The Garda Ombudsman Commission declined to comment on their investigation, which they said was ongoing.

The commission is liaising with both the gardaí and the Coastal Rescue Service in the search for the body, which continued yesterday.

Meanwhile, senior gardaí have denied a report that Mr Goodson-Ukiwo was due to be deported on the day he jumped to his death.

Garda sources revealed such an order had previously been issued, but he was appealing it.

Also yesterday, the family of Ms Katarzyna (Kasia) Bartkowiak issued a statement saying they were greatly shocked at her death. Her brother and aunt have flown in from Poland and are in Tralee.

“Kasia was greatly loved and her passing is a great loss to our family and to all her friends, especially to her young son whom she loved dearly,” the statement said.

The family said Mr Goodson-Ukiwo’s was her ex-partner and extended their condolences to his family.

There will be a service for Kasia over the weekend, in Tralee.

“We would ask that the media stay away from the service and to respect the privacy of family and friends on the day,” they said.

Her remains will later be sent back to her family in Poland.