The Minister for Justice will not financially assist a family at an inquest into the death of a young man who died in Garda custody, an inquest in Dublin heard yesterday.
A barrister for the family of Terence Wheelock told an earlier hearing of the inquest last March that they had received a telephone call from the Department of Justice saying that the Minister would assist them with costs for an independent forensic examination of his clothes.
However, the family's barrister told a subsequent hearing that the Minister was querying whether an independent forensic examination was necessary.
It was confirmed at the brief hearing of the inquest yesterday that the State would not financially assist the family.
"We have received a letter from the Department [of Justice] . . . indicating that they will not fund an independent examination. The family will now have to meet those high costs," Yvonne Banbury, solicitor for the family, told the inquest.
Ms Banbury added the family and friends of the Wheelock family would now personally fund the cost, expected to cost several thousand euro.
Ms Banbury said the family's forensic team would come and examine the clothing and ligature in Garda custody within the next couple of weeks. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell set a date for the full inquest to be heard on November 20th.
Terence Wheelock (20), Summerhill, Dublin, was found unconscious in a cell at Store Street Garda station last June after he apparently attempted to hang himself with a cord from his tracksuit bottoms. He was brought to the Mater hospital but never regained consciousness. He died on September 16th, 2005. His family has questioned the circumstances of his death and claims he was mistreated while in a cell.
Outside court, his parents, Esther and Larry Wheelock, said they were "very disappointed" and "very angry" that Mr McDowell would not financially assist the family after initially indicating his willingness.
Following Mr McDowell's financial aid offer in March, an estimate was sent to his office outlining the costs involved in bringing the family's forensic experts from Britain to carry out their examination in the Forensic State Laboratory. However, Mr McDowell's office then replied to the Wheelock family's legal representative in a fax. "In the fax he says 'since the Forensic State Laboratory is independent, why does your client believe an independent review is necessary'?", a lawyer for the family told the inquest in April.