Psychiatrist declared Carthy fit to have gun

A PSYCHIATRIST who treated John Carthy declared him fit to have a firearm after his GP refused to help get his shotgun back from gardaí because of concern over his mental state.

Dr Patrick Cullen only found out Mr Carthy had the gun the day he was called to an armed siege at his home.

The first day of witness testimony at the tribunal of inquiry into the shooting dead of Mr Carthy, aged 26, by gardaí at his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000, heard evidence of a failure of communication between a number of people involved in the decision to return the seized gun.