Shooting scenes played at inquest

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

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.

Second 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 (aged 33) of Canon Lillis Avenue, and Hopkins (aged 24) of Lower Rutland Street, both Dublin, were shot dead by elite members of the emergency response unit as they 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 Hopkins was first shot in the chest, causing internal injuries to his pancreas, right kidney and bowel, leading him to collapse.

Surgery may have saved his life, she said, however he was killed by a bullet first immediately after which hit him in his head causing brain damage.

Prof Cassidy said that while falling, his head fell in to the line of the second bullet.

She added 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.

Earlier, post mistress Linda Neary told the inquest she had no prior warning of the raid, despite gardaí lying in wait for the robbers after a tip off.

She said three postmen were in a rear sorting office and she was in the main office with two auditors worked from head office when there was a knock at the glass partition.

Ms Neary said she looked through the vertical blinds and saw two gardaí who asked to be let in.

As one stood in the hallway, telling her a raid was in progress, she saw a raider in a black balaclava running from the deli area with a huge sledgehammer.

"I was in fear of my life," she said. "I was terrified."

Ms Neary said the garda closed the door and she ran in to her office, and huddled down in the corner with the auditors.

"The sledgehammer was coming through," she said. "He was forcing the hatch with the sledgehammer."

The postmistress said one of the raiders shouted 'open up, give us your money' while officers roared 'armed garda, armed garda, put down your weapons.'

It was after that she heard the gun shots she said.

"All of a sudden it was quiet," she added.

All three said witnesses said they heard gardaí warn the raiders to put down their weapons before the shots were fired.

The post mistress said she then saw a man injured on the ground in front of the post office.

"He said he couldn't breath and was given oxygen from a cylinder," she added.

Both men were pronounced dead in Beaumont Hospital.

The inquest continues tomorrow under tight security.