An investigation has begun into the death of a Polish man found unconscious while in custody in Tralee Garda station at lunchtime yesterday.
The 42-year-old man had been arrested in the early hours of the morning and was being questioned by gardaí in relation to an alleged sexual assault on a woman, also a foreign national, in Tralee in the early hours.
His arrest at about 4.30am followed the allegation of sexual assault in the Monavalley area of the town a short time before. He was being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
Questioning had been suspended, it is understood. However shortly before 2pm, when gardaí went to check on him, they discovered him unconscious.
The man was brought to Kerry General Hospital in Tralee where he was pronounced dead.
"The scene has been preserved and the State pathologist and the Garda ombudsman have both been notified. A superintendent from outside the Kerry division has been appointed by Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy to investigate the incident," according to a statement.
It is understood the man was found slumped in his cell and a ligature was around his neck attached to a wall, although he was not found hanging. A postmortem is likely to be carried out later today.
In a separate investigation, also in south Kerry, gardaí are investigating the death of an angler in his mid-50s who may have slipped off rocks while trout fishing near Killarney yesterday.
The body of the man, married and with a family, from Mallow, Co Cork, was retrieved at 1.30 pm yesterday from the River Flesk in the Clonkeen area east of Killarney.
He was with a number of anglers who had been fishing in the river since earlier that morning.
Shortly before noon his companions noticed he had gone missing and raised the alarm.
Sgt Tom Tobin of Killarney said they are awaiting results of a postmortem and the man's name was being withheld for the moment.