Gardaí tell inquest of attempts to prevent Post Office robbery

The inquest into the deaths of two post office raiders shot by an armed garda in County Dublin two years ago, heard today of unsuccessful attempts to prevent the robbery.

A number of Gardaí told the Dublin Coroners Court of the scene immediately following the deaths of Colm Griffin and Eric Hopkins.

A detective from the Emergency Response Unit told the court that instructions were given out over the radio to intercept a black Skoda car in which the raiders were travelling to Lusk Post Office.

However, he said that this instruction was followed quickly by another message informing members of the Garda team that the car had already entered a laneway by the Post Office.

The detective said he was stationed on the road a short distance away from the post office, and by the time he reached it, Colm Griffin and Eric Hopkins had been shot, and were lying on the ground.

He told the coroners court how he proceeded to administer CPR on Hopkins, who was then removed to hospital.