A MAN who disappeared 14 years ago and whose body has never been found was beaten to death, a jury at an inquest has found.
William “Jock” Corbally (44), Ballygall Parade, Finglas, Dublin, was last seen at about 8.20pm on February 28th, 1996, by two friends who gave him a lift from Finglas to Chapelizod.
Dublin County Coroner’s Court heard yesterday that Mr Corbally asked an unnamed friend to drop him to Ballyfermot as he needed to see a friend urgently as if he didn’t see him he would lose out on a big deal.
He was going to get £1,000 and some “gear”, the inquest was told.
Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Mahony told the inquest that two months after Mr Corbally’s disappearance, an individual told gardaí he had met Mr Corbally in Ballyfermot on the night of February 28th and had driven him to a field at Kingswood, Baldonnell.
At the field, Mr Corbally had been dragged from the car and severely beaten by three men with a small pickaxe handle, a lead pipe and a baseball bat, the individual said.
One of the men carrying out the beating ordered the informant to leave the field and when he left, Mr Corbally was still receiving a beating and was “screaming and whimpering”.
The informant was also a suspect, Mr O’Mahony added.
He later refused to sign his statement and retracted it, said the assistant commissioner.
The informant was murdered in 2003.
The inquest jury found Mr Corbally, a father of two, died on February 28th, 1996, at Kingswood, Baldonnell, as a result of multiple injuries due to an assault.
The jury recorded a verdict of death by unlawful killing under the direction of coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty, who told them the standard of proof was “a reasonable probability”.
Dr Geraghty called for young people buying and using drugs to “consider their own responsibility” in the “wave of killings that is sweeping the country”.
“All young people and socialites . . . purchasing and using drugs are providing the oxygen for the evil drugs scene,” he said.
It was noted that it was the first inquest held by Dr Geraghty in circumstances like this where there was no body recovered.
The coroner wrote to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform after Mr Corbally’s family indicated they were anxious to have an inquest and the Department directed an inquest as it was believed Mr Corbally was dead.
The inquest heard that as early as March 1st, 1996, gardaí began receiving information that Mr Corbally, who was reported missing by his family at the end of March, had received a severe beating and a full Garda investigation was launched.
During the Garda investigation, more than 200 statements were taken, 18 individuals were interviewed under arrest, there were house-to-house inquiries and extensive searches were carried out at the homes of suspects and of lands at Clondalkin, Co Dublin, and Straffan, Kill, Clane and Prospect, Co Kildare, and parts of the Grand Canal and Kill West waterworks.
Despite extensive searches over a 12-month period, the body of Mr Corbally was never found.
“All the information would suggest he is dead,” Mr O’Mahony said.