Gardai believe a man found dead at a west Dublin waste disposal facility was homeless and sleeping in an industrial-sized bin when its contents were collected, crushed and dumped.
Staff working for the waste company involved only became aware of the man’s body in the refuse when a collection truck was emptied of its load at its recycling and refuse facility in Walkinstown this morning.
The facility on Ballymount Road in Dublin 24 is owned by the Panda refuse and recycling company.
The man, named as Henryk Piotrowski (43), was carrying identification papers on his person when his body was discovered and gardai investigating the case are satisfied they have identified him. He is from Eastern Europe. Efforts are being made to contact his family.
“It looks like he fell on hard times for whatever reason and was sleeping in this bin probably because it was cold or wet,” said one source.
The cause of death has not yet been established but it appears the man either died in the skip before its contents were collected, crushed and tipped or that he died as a result of being crushed.
“It doesn’t seem to be foul play at this stage,” said one source.
After the body was found at around 9am, staff alerted the Garda and the area was sealed off when they arrived.
The body was left in the recycling pending the arrival at the scene of Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis. He carried out a preliminary examination of the body at the scene before it was removed for a full postmortem.
That examination is expected to be concluded by this evening, and will dictate the course of the investigation into the man’s death.
While sources said there did not appear to be foul play at the centre of the case, that would only be determined for certain by the postmortem process.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau are also at the scene and are carrying out a full forensic examination in the event it emerges the man met foul play and the case becomes a criminal one.
