There was no opportunity to call a negotiator to the scene where George Nkencho was holding a knife, an inspector has told an inquest.
A Garda dispatcher outlined how she passed on information that Mr Nkencho had mental health issues, while another dispatcher responsible for deploying armed gardaí said he did not see that information, reports Breaking News.
Mr Nkencho, aged 27, died outside his home in west Dublin on December 30th, 2020, after he was shot several times by members of a Garda armed support unit.
An inquest into his death, which began this week at Dublin District Coroner’s Court, heard testimony from shop workers and customers who described seeing Mr Nkencho strike an assistant manager at a shop in Hartstown, as well as members of the public who said they observed him carrying a knife, reports Breaking News.
Sergeant Deirdre Dempsey told the court she was working as a Garda dispatcher at the time, while retired dispatcher Kenneth Kennedy was responsible for coordinating the deployment of armed response units.
Ms Dempsey explained to the inquest how gardaí were first alerted to the incident at the shop, reports Breaking News.
She said she worked with local gardaí to locate the man so they could monitor his movements.
She told the court she heard over Garda radio communications that the man was known to gardaí and had mental health difficulties, although Mr Nkencho was not identified by name at that stage by dispatchers or officers, reports Breaking News.
“A garda member informed me (the) male was known to Gardai and had mental health issues,” Ms Dempsey said in her deposition read out to the inquest, reports Breaking News.
She said she then “typed it up” on the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, but did not repeat it over the Tetra radio because all gardaí attending the scene would already have heard the information broadcast on the channel.
She said that at 12.36pm, confirmation was received by the control centre that Mr Nkencho had been shot and was “gravely ill”, reports Breaking News.
Mr Kennedy said he was not involved in directing the armed gardaí’s tactical response, but that part of his role involved gathering information to assist with risk assessments at incidents.
He said an armed response unit with two armed officers was initially dispatched, followed by a second unit consisting of two more armed officers, reports Breaking News.
When asked why four armed officers were deployed to respond to “a pedestrian with a knife”, Mr Kennedy said “he was mobile”.
“If he went into a house, you could have a hostage incident so it was best to send a second unit to be safe,” he said, reports Breaking News.
Mr Kennedy was also questioned about an entry made on the CAD system by Ms Dempsey at 12.26pm, noting that the suspect had mental health problems, and was asked why his own deposition made no reference to this.
“Because I didn’t see it, and I didn’t give it out,” he said, reports Breaking News.
He explained that he was entering “unit updated” information when the comment appeared, but he did not notice it.
He said that if a negotiator had been requested by officers at the scene, one would have been dispatched, adding that “no one requested an on-scene commander”, reports Breaking News.
He was asked by the coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane: “Had you gathered there were mental health issues, you’d seen it on the screen?”
He said he had not seen it on the screen, reports Breaking News.
“So you did not know there were mental health issues?”
“No… but the units on the ground did, because they were (told over the Garda radio system),” reports Breaking News.
He said he was also unaware at the time of where Mr Nkencho lived or that he was standing in his front garden.
Mr Kennedy was told by counsel for Mr Nkencho’s family that the last information available to him was that Mr Nkencho was in an open, grassy public space, reports Breaking News.
“You only found out after the event that he was in this confined space in the front garden,” he was told by the barrister.
“I never knew about that,” Mr Kennedy said, reports Breaking News.
“I had no information that he was in a front garden,” reports Breaking News.
Inspector Gerard Doherty told the inquest that he was the most senior officer present in the control room that day.
“I was trusting the experience of the dispatchers, as that is their role, and I think for me to interject at any stage could be detrimental to the management of the operation,” he said, reports Breaking News.
Counsel for Mr Nkencho’s family asked: “Wasn’t this scene at Manorfields Drive crying out for an intermediary, male or female, who was unarmed or a trained negotiator?”
“Time was probably not allowing that,” Mr Doherty responded. It was unclear where this individual was travelling to, the identity wasn’t known at that time, so it was constantly moving and evolving, so time was probably not permitted there to develop it down that way. That’s my understanding. You make it sound like haste was the best policy, is that right?” the barrister said, reports Breaking News.
“That is not correct,” he said, reports Breaking News.
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