Yves Sakila inquest to consider four possible causes of death

Yves Sakila moved to Ireland at 13 years of age as part of a family reunification programme after his biological father Nobert Sakila was killed in a car crash. Photo: Facebook

Four possible causes of death will be put forward to the Dublin District Coroner when the inquest into the death of a Congolese national who died after being restrained outside a department store formally opens later this month.

Yves Sakila, 35, was suspected of trying to steal a bottle of perfume from Arnott's Department store on Henry Street on May 15. He was restrained by a group of security guards and was later taken to the Mater hospital where he died.

Documentation seen by the Irish Examiner reveal that state pathology reports will attribute the tragedy to a combination of overlapping factors.

The competing causes of death to be heard at the inquest are cardio-respiratory arrest (caused by restraint) an increased body mass index, drugs, and a history of schizophrenia.

Mr Sakila had legal and illegal substances in his body at the time of his death which include medication for schizophrenia, methadone — a legal heroin substitute — and unprescribed medications. 

However, the toxicology report results show that any drugs present in Mr Sakila’s system were at non-toxic levels.

The Irish Examiner later learned he moved to Ireland at 13 years of age as part of a family reunification programme after his biological father Nobert Sakila was killed in a car crash.

He was reared by his stepmother and next of kin Angel Issemezey Anzibi in Dublin, who told the Irish Examiner this year “he went off the rails” after her marriage to his uncle broke down and he was taken into foster care where he continued to run away.

At the time of his death on May 15, Mr Sakila was a resident of the Salvation Army Hostel at the Granby Centre in Dublin’s city centre..

Mr Sakila’s body remains in the city morgue in Whitehall after a failed attempt to fly him home to be buried in the Congo which left relatives “caught in a bureaucratic trap”.

He will now be buried in Ireland but there is no date set for his funeral service.

An inquest into Mr Sakila's death is due to open on October 13 but will now be adjourned to October 22. It is expected to be adjourned again to allow for a full garda criminal investigation.

Gardaí said they continue to investigate "all the circumstances of the death of Mr Sakila during an incident on Henry Street Dublin on May 15, 2026."