Gardaí are almost ready to send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), following their investigation into the death of Rose Duke at Cavan General Hospital in 2003.
The inquest into the death of the retired school teacher was adjourned for the second time at the Cavan Coroner's Court yesterday, at the request of Supt Fergus Healy.
Ms Duke (72), from Earlsvale Place, Cavan, died in the hospital in November 2003, two days after she had been admitted complaining of abdominal pain. She had also complained of chest pain and had been vomiting.
The inquest opened in Cavan last summer but was adjourned at the request of gardaí. Yesterday Supt Healy told the coroner, Dr Mary Flanagan, that gardaí had made "extensive inquiries" into the case, both in Ireland and abroad.
"We are at a stage where we are almost ready to send a file to the DPP," he said. Supt Healy said the file should be ready in two or three weeks after a "number of small issues" were tidied up.
Dr Flanagan agreed to adjourn the inquest to October 18th, to allow enough time to the DPP to make a decision on the case.
At the previous inquest hearing, a solicitor for Ms Duke's next of kin expressed concern at the circumstances surrounding the death. Brendan Muldowney also questioned the circumstances surrounding the registration of the death and asked why a postmortem was not carried out. High Court proceedings have been initiated in the case.
