HSE seeks permission for DNA test to identify 'John Doe' in psychiatric hospital for 30 years

The judge was told a documentary maker had been in touch with a view to making a documentary in the hope of helping to establish his true identity.

The HSE want a sample taken while he is alive in order to address posthumous procedures. File photo: Anthony Devlin/PA

The HSE is seeking High Court permission to take a DNA sample from an unidentified vulnerable elderly man in a psychiatric hospital here for more than thirty years.

David Leahy BL, for the HSE, told High Court president Ms Justice Mary Irvine today the man is very old and not well and the gardaí and HSE want a sample taken while he is alive in order to address posthumous procedures.