A Garda Ombudsman Commission inquiry into the shooting dead by gardaí of two men, one of them unarmed, during an attempted post office robbery has deemed the killings as proportionate and lawful.
In a report into the incident published today, the Garda Ombudsman clears the gardaí involved of wrongdoing and recommends improved management of incidents involving firearms.
Colm Griffin (33), Canon Lillis Avenue, and Eric Hopkins (24), Lower Rutland Street, both Dublin 1, were shot dead by Emergency Response Unit officers as they tried to steal €48,500 on the morning of May 26th, 2005, from the Village Stores post office and shop in Lusk, Co Dublin.
The family of Mr Hopkins sought an investigation into the incident saying the use of lethal force was unlawful. They said that CCTV footage showed Mr Hopkins attempting to flee the scene. The Griffin family also filed a complaint but the commission ruled it inadmissible as it was filed outside a set time limit.
The case was contentious because one of the men shot dead was unarmed and because both men were members of one of two feuding drugs gangs in Sheriff Street in Dublin’s north inner city that threatened to kill gardaí in revenge for the double shooting.
The gardaí involved in the operation six years ago were for personal safety reasons allowed to conceal their identities during the inquest into the deaths. They gave their evidence from behind a curtain in Dublin Coroner’s Court and did not have to state their names.
A Garda operation was put in place in Lusk after intelligence suggested a raid was to take place there on the morning in question. Two armed members of the Emergency Response Unit dressed as construction workers and took up positions in the post office.
While gardaí expected the raiders to enter the post office via the front door where the gang was to be stopped, the men drove around the back of the building and entered via the rear entrance.
The three-man gang then gained access to the public area in the shop’s post office, where there were customers and staff present as gardaí shouted at the men to drop any weapons, before both were shot dead.
The Garda Ombudsman Commission investigation identified a number of weaknesses in the planning of the Garda operation. “These had an adverse effect of the command and control of the operation and led to Garda A being put in a position where he was required to make a split-second life and death decision,” the commission said.
“The investigation concluded that the level of force used by Garda A in the shooting of Colm Griffin and Eric Hopkins was proportionate, lawful and no more than absolutely necessary."
The report commends the courage of the gardaí involved in the incident and sympathises with the Hopkins and Griffin families on the death of their relatives.
It says the operational response of the Garda Síochána to incidents of this nature could be strengthened and that work is already under way within the Garda Síochána in reviewing the use of force policies, procedures and training.