Former NI state pathologist to conduct Nkencho postmortem
George Nkencho
An independent autopsy on the remains of George Nkencho has been scheduled for next Tuesday.
Professor Jack Crane, retired state pathologist for Northern Ireland, is due to conduct the postmortem on the 27-year-old.
Mr Nkencho was fatally shot by a garda outside his home in Clonee, west Dublin, last Wednesday week.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is carrying out a criminal investigation into whether or not the garda committed a criminal offence in his use of lethal force.
A postmortem has already been conducted on Mr Nkencho on behalf of Gsoc, but the family sought, and obtained, permission from the coroner to carry out an independent examination.
Family solicitor Phelim O'Neill confirmed today that Prof Crane was scheduled to conduct the autopsy next Tuesday. This suggests the funeral will take place in the days after.
The autopsy will provide the family with information on the number of times Mr Nkencho was shot, the damage caused by each injury, and whether there are any exit wounds.
The family has already asserted that shots came into their house on Manorfields Drive, and point to two apparent bullet holes in a pane of glass beside the front door.
Three siblings say they were in the hallway when an estimated five shots were fired by a member of the Garda Armed Support Unit.
The holes might indicate up to two misses or possible bullets that exited through Mr Nkencho’s body.
Garda statements have said that Mr Nkencho had threatened people and unarmed gardaí with a knife at Hartstown Shopping Centre after he allegedly assaulted a shop worker.
Gardaí have said that when Mr Nkencho got to the house, he threatened the officers with a knife and they implemented a graduated response, using less-than-lethal weapons.
Gardaí say two discharges of a Taser and a discharge of pepper spray were unsuccessful and that shots were then fired.
Garda sources have said that Mr Nkencho could not have been allowed to enter the house in such circumstances for fear of attacking or even killing someone inside or taking them hostage.
Gardaí had earlier this year been called to the house after a domestic incident. This resulted in the family obtaining a protection order against Mr Nkencho (though he continued to live there) and a referral to his GP and, it is thought, to the HSE for psychiatric assessment.
Whether this was known to the ASU officer is not clear, nor if the officer even knew it was the family home.
Gsoc is investigating if the garda had an honest belief, for each of the shots he fired, that there was an immediate threat to life and that the use of lethal force was necessary and proportionate.
Prof Crane, Honorary Professor of Forensic Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, was the Northern Ireland state pathologist for 24 years before retiring in 2014.
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