Dunnes tightens lock-up procedures

Dunnes Stores has tightened lock-up procedures at its flagship Cork City store after a woman lay dead overnight in its toilets.

Cork City Coroner’s Court heard yesterday how mum-of-four, Mary Mullaney, 64, from Castle Rd, Blackrock, was found dead in a cubicle in the toilets of Dunne’s St Patrick’s St branch at 6.35am on April 25 last.

She was seen on CCTV footage entering the second-floor toilets at 7pm the previous night, after they were closed off.

The store’s general manager, Declan Flanagan, accepted that its lock-up procedures failed that night.

He told city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane the company’s lock-up procedure at that time dictated security staff should have checked the toilets before the store closed, but they did not.

The inquest was told the store’s only toilets, located in the café area, were cleaned by cleaning staff before the café closed at around 5.30pm on April 24.

Tables and chairs were stacked at the toilet entrance to block access, and a warning sign was placed there.

Café manager Sabrina Murphy was doing paperwork at 7pm when she heard the tables being moved.

She said she saw a woman carrying a bottle of Lucozade trying to get into the toilets and told her they were closed. But the woman insisted she was going to use the toilets.

Ms Murphy said she continued with her paperwork and saw a man leave the toilets at around 7.30pm, before she herself left the café just before 8pm.

She told Dr Cullinane the toilets were not the responsibility of café staff.

In his deposition, security manager Mark Flynn said he had left the store at 8.25pm and had not been responsible for locking up the shop that night.

Noonan Cleaning worker Joanne Crowley said she was cleaning the toilets at around 6.35am the next morning when she saw a black jacket and trainers on the ground inside a cubicle.

She told her supervisor who reported the matter to the Dunnes managers, who then raised the alarm.

Mr Flynn said, on arrival, he found Ms Mullaney slumped on the ground inside the cubicle, with her back against its door.

With help from other staff, they managed to open the door and lie her down before he began CPR.

First responders from the Cork City Fire Servicearrived at 7.09am and took over rendering medicalassistance for 30 minutes but Ms Mullaney showed no signs of life.

Paramedics arrived and continued efforts to save her but she was pronounced dead there just after 8am.

Gardaí reviewed CCTV footage which showed Ms Mullaney arriving in the store at 6.50pm the previous night, buying a bottle of vodka and Lucozade, and entering the toilet area at 7.01pm.

An empty bottle of vodka was found in the cubicle the next morning. A postmortem found Ms Mullaney had an alcohol concentration of 424mgs per 100 mls of blood, and died from acute alcohol intoxication. The coroner returned a misadventure verdict.

Mr Flanagan said the tragic incident prompted a full review of their lock-up policies which has resulted in the introduction of a more comprehensive 40-point procedure.

Crucially, he said, locks have been installed on the doors to the toilet area, to prevent public access after they have been closed.

Dr Cullinane sympathised with Ms Mullaney’s family and said: “You have lost somebody who was very loved. She was an exceptionally nice and decent person — very well liked by everybody.”