A MAN who had earlier in the day taken cocaine suffered a seizure and died when being restrained by drug squad detectives as they tried to search a house in Cork, an inquest has been told.
David O’Mahony (22), from Mayfield, suffered the seizure when being restrained by gardaí while they were searching the rented house he shared with his brother Shane at McSwiney Villas in Gurranebraher, on November 14th, 2007.
Shane O’Mahony told Cork City Coroner’s Court yesterday that at one point, four gardaí were trying to handcuff his brother on a couch after they arrived with a search warrant.
Mr O’Mahony said gardaí brought him to the house after they had earlier stopped him and searched his car for drugs. While he was in the kitchen, a “small tiff” broke out between his brother and Det Garda Liam Kelleher in the lounge and quickly escalated.
He said his brother was whistling and smiling and looked very relaxed when gardaí arrived. His brother told them they were wasting their time if they were looking for drugs.
He said Det Garda Kelleher told his brother to shut up. While his brother had no problem with the search, he did not like being told not to talk in his own house and they had more words.
He said that Det Garda Kelleher could not get his brother’s left hand behind his back to handcuff him and three other gardaí assisted him, pushing his brother face down into a couch with Det Garda Kelleher kneeling on his upper back/neck area.
Mr O’Mahony said his brother was face down into the couch after the gardaí handcuffed him but he told them they were getting too rough. They got off him when he started to go quiet but then he noticed his brother started to breathe heavily.
He was lying face down on the couch, breathing heavily for about two to five minutes when he noticed his brother’s feet start to tremble and soon his whole body was caught in a seizure which lasted about 10-20 seconds.
Mr O’Mahony said he pleaded with Det Garda Kelleher to take the handcuffs off but he refused at first, saying his brother was fine, but then he did. About 30 seconds to a minute later, his brother got a second fit.
“The second one looked a lot worse than the first one, he nearly came off the couch and the eyeballs were nearly popping out of his head,” said Mr O’Mahony.
He asked the gardaí to take him to hospital but they refused and he then began begging them to call an ambulance but they again refused, before they realised how seriously ill he was. They then rang an ambulance.
Mr O’Mahony said they only began to assist his brother when they saw how seriously ill he was and they became worried.
The jury also heard that Mr O’Mahony’s death was investigated by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and a file was sent to the DPP. No criminal proceedings were directed.
The inquest continues.