Gardaí were made aware George Nkencho had 'severe' mental health issues before shooting, inquest told

George Nkencho was shot dead by gardaí in Clonee, in West Dublin on December 30, 2020

Garda units dispatched to investigate reports of a man with a knife in an incident at a supermarket in west Dublin were made aware he had “severe” mental health issues 10 minutes before he was fatally wounded by armed officers, an inquest has heard.

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard details of how gardaí were alerted by controllers to reports of a disturbance at the Eurospar store in Hartstown on December 30, 2020.

George Nkencho, aged 27, who was involved in an unprovoked assault on a store manager in the Eurospar store and who had threatened staff with a knife, was shot dead shortly afterwards by members of the Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU) outside his family home at Manorfields Drive, Clonee, Co Dublin.

The young man, the eldest of five siblings whose family originally come from Nigeria, was pronounced dead a short time later at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

The deceased’s family claim the level of force used against him was disproportionate.

The third day of the full inquest into Mr Nkencho’s death on Thursday heard evidence of communications between gardaí in the Garda Communications Centre which was located at the time in Harcourt Square and patrol units, including two ASU units.

Sergeant Deirdre Dempsey, who worked as a dispatcher in the control centre, gave evidence of gardaí first being alerted about the incident at the Eurospar store at 12.14pm. Sgt Dempsey said they received information that there was an incident at the location involving a male causing a disturbance who had a knife.

She told the inquest that gardaí had received three 999 calls about the same incident from members of the public. The inquest heard local patrols were made aware of the incident and dispatched to the scene at 12.16pm.

Sgt Dempsey said it was reported back to her at 12.26pm by a local unit that Mr Nkencho had produced a knife when a garda stated: “We need ASU immediately.” Another message was the broadcast over the radio: “That fella is known to the guards. Severe mental health issues.” 

Sgt Dempsey said she notified all units over the radio not to approach the male as the ASU would be with them “in moments”. Communication logs show a garda reported at 12.34pm that Mr Nkencho had pointed a knife at them.

Two minutes later, Sgt Dempsey said she was informed that a number of shots had been fired. She told the inquest she got no immediate response when she sought information on whether the shots had landed “on the target”. 

However, she was informed a short time later that Mr Nkencho had been shot a number of times and was “gravely ill”. The inquest before Dublin City senior coroner, Myra Cullinane, and a jury of five women and five men is continuing this afternoon.