Gardaí had ‘no choice but restrain naked man’

Gardaí had no alternative but to chase down a man who died shortly after he was found running naked around a north Dublin suburb, an inquest heard yesterday.

William Kavanagh, aged 58, from Edenmore Crescent in Raheny, Dublin, died after midnight on Jun 5, 2009, shortly after he had been restrained by Gardaí when they found him running around naked in the Bayside area. He had punched a female Garda in the jaw as she tried to calm him down.

Mr Kavanagh became unwell after gardaí handcuffed him and placed him in the recovery position. He was not breathing when para- medics arrived at the scene.

He had been involved in a number of other incidents earlier in the night.

Dublin Coroner’s Court previously heard from state pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy that Mr Kavanagh was exhibiting symptoms of excited delirium in the hours before his death. The condition leads to sudden, bizarre and often violent behaviour. Mr Kavanagh, who had significant cardiac disease, died as a result of a stress-related heart attack.

At the continuation of the inquest into Mr Kavanagh’s death yesterday, Garda Aidan Morgan said he and Garda Judith Notely had responded to the call about the naked man when they saw him running toward their car. He got in the back seat and shouted “Darndale, Darndale, Buttercup” before getting out again.

“They pursued him on foot and when Gda Notely put her hand on his arm to try to calm him down, the deceased turned around and punched her in the jaw,” said Gda Morgan.

“He attempted to hit Grda Notely again but she blocked the punch and grabbed hold of his arm. I grabbed his other arm and we tried to pull him to the ground. The fact that he had no clothing on made this very difficult,” he said.

Gda Morgan said that there was no alternative but to pursue Mr Kavanagh on foot because the area is full of alleyways and laneways.

It wasn’t until Reserve Garda Noel Cumiskey arrived at the scene that they were able to restrain Mr Kavanagh, bringing him to the ground and handcuffing him. Mr Kavanagh slowly calmed down and stopped shouting abuse.

Reserve Gda Cumiskey, who had recently completed CPR training at the time, said that he checked twice that Mr Kavanagh had a pulse and he observed him breathing during this period. When the paramedics arrived they requested that Mr Kavanagh’s handcuffs be removed and immediately began CPR.

The inquest continues.