THE FAMILY of a 22-year-old man who died 13 years ago has threatened to take the Dublin city coroner to court following the coroner's findings into the cause of his death.
An inquest into the death of Alan Duffy (22) of Howth Road, Clontarf, Dublin, concluded at Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday, more than 10 years after it first opened.
Dublin city coroner Dr Brian Farrell found that Alan Duffy died of pneumonia, secondary to a neurological disorder at the Mater hospital on December 31, 1995.
His parents Vera and Kevin have maintained the pneumonia was due to his mental handicap, which they claim was caused by a reaction to the three-in-one Pertussis (DPT) vaccine which he received as an infant.
Following a Supreme Court judgement in 2001, the coroner was unable to investigate any alleged link between the 22-year-old's death and the three-in-one vaccination at the inquest.
In 1999 the High Court ruled that any link between his death and the vaccine was too indistinct to make it appropriate for investigation by a coroner.
In 2001 the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the coroner against the decision.
Counsel for the Duffy family, Paul Gardiner SC, said it was his submission that the coroner did not have the jurisdiction to conclude the inquest in the manner proposed. Moreover, if he brought in a verdict of death due to pneumonia secondary to a neurological disorder, he was acting outside his jurisdiction and they would seek a judicial review.
He said that under section 44 of the Coroner's Act 1962, if a jury fails to return a unanimous verdict, a majority verdict can be accepted, but that otherwise the coroner should discharge the jury and hold a new inquest.
When Mr Duffy's inquest opened in 1997, it was with a jury.
The coroner disagreed.
He said it was not a case of a jury being unable to reach a verdict and that it was at his discretion whether to have a jury. He said he was going to proceed and read a narrative into the record.
Speaking outside the court, Alan's mother, Vera, said she was devastated by the outcome of the inquest and that they had no choice but to take the coroner to court. "I'm totally and completely shocked," she said.