Second postmortem sought after NI prison officer’s death

A second postmortem examination is to be carried out on a prison officer after lawyers for a man accused of murder questioned the cause of death, a court has heard.

Solicitors representing Christopher Alphonsos Robinson have also asked for a review of the medical care given to Adrian Ismay in the 11 days between him suffering serious leg injuries when a bomb exploded under his van, and having a fatal heart attack.

Mr Ismay, a 52-year-old father of three, died on Tuesday when a blood clot triggered cardiac failure.

He had been released from hospital in the wake of the blast in east Belfast on March 4th and had reportedly been making good progress.

A dissident republican group calling itself the New IRA, which opposes the Northern Ireland peace process, claimed to have carried out the attack.

Mr Robinson (45), from Aspen Park in Dunmurry, west Belfast, had originally been charged with attempted murder prior to Mr Ismay’s death.

That charge was changed to murder on the basis of a postmortem report. He is also facing a charge of possession of an explosive with the intention to endanger life.

The accused appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Friday to face the substituted charge.

A police detective, who told the district judge he could connect Mr Robinson with the charge, outlined the preliminary postmortem findings to the court.

“Mr Ismay died from pulmonary embolism due to deep vein thrombosis following explosion injuries to the legs,” he said.

Mr Robinson’s solicitor, Pádraig Ó Muirigh, asked the officer if the cause of death could be described as a clot.

“That would be correct,” he replied.

Mr Ó Muirigh told judge Austin Kennedy that his request for a second postmortem examination had been approved by the coroner.

He said it would be performed by University of Glasgow pathologist Dr Marjorie Turner either later on Friday or on Monday.

The solicitor said he also wanted a review of Mr Ismay’s care both in hospital and as an outpatient.

“There are issues in regard to causation,” he said.

The first postmortem examination was carried out by Prof Jack Crane, Northern Ireland’s former state pathologist.

Mr Robinson was remanded back into custody. He will appear in court again, via video-link from prison, on April 1st.

PA