Gloria Nkencho: My brother needed help, not bullets

Gloria Nkencho speaking outside Leinster House before handing in a submission to justice minister Helen Mc Entee, outlining concerns about the investigation into the garda killing of her brother George Nkencho. Picture:Gareth Chaney/Collins

Calls have been made for a public inquiry into the death of George Nkencho as his family say he “needed help, not bullets".

Solidarity-PBP TD Mick Barry has lodged a formal submission with justice minister Helen McEntee, calling for her to use her discretionary powers to launch an inquiry into the shooting.

Speaking outside Leinster House, Mr Nkencho's sister Gloria Nkencho said: "The death of my brother has caused a vacuum in my home, my mother has described it as a wound that will never heal. My family and I are forced to live our trauma every day when we walk past his room or we walk down the stairs and we see where we stood as he was shot and killed. We see the bullet holes in our windows.

"This shouldn't have happened. He didn't deserve to die, he needed help, not bullets."

The 27-year-old was shot multiple times by armed gardaí outside his home in Clonee on the border between Dublin and Meath on December 30.

He was allegedly brandishing a knife and threatened gardaí before he was shot dead. Mr Nkencho was suffering from mental health issues at the time.

Gsoc to investigate killing

The Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) has launched an investigation into the shooting.

Ms Nkencho asked the public to come together to support her family and to demand justice through a public inquiry.

"A life was taken, a life that mattered and meant something. My brother is gone and he will not come back. 

"There's nothing anybody can do to bring him back but what we can do is ensure that his death was not in vain, that it never happens to another family again and that the most vulnerable people in our society are given the care that they need.”

Supporters and friends of the family have already demanded answers about the circumstances surrounding his death. They have previously held protests outside Garda stations.

Mr Barry said a full-scale public inquiry is needed, similar to the one carried out into the shooting in Abbeylara, Co Longford in the year 2000.

“We had an inquiry into the death of John Carthy 20 years ago, who suffered mental ill-health," said Mr Barry.

“He was shot after a day-long siege and was armed. Why then would we not have one for George Nkencho’s death, who was not armed with a gun and was shot within an hour?”

Call for independent inquiry 

Mr Barry, along with former Dublin West TD Ruth Coppinger and Blanchardstown councillor John Burtchaell, have written to Ms McEntee asking that an independent inquiry be established.

The letter warns that the "unprecedented and shocking killing has serious implications for the relationship between the community and gardaí".

It raises concerns over the fact that a person "with no criminal convictions and a history of mental ill-health was shot dead so quickly after being engaged by the gardaí" and also raises questions about the GSOC investigation.