GARDAÍ ARE preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions into the death of a 35-year-old woman who died from carbon monoxide poisoning while staying at a hotel in Kinsale, Co Cork, earlier this year, an inquest heard yesterday.
Insp Brendan Fogarty said the Garda investigation into the death of Miriam Reidy (35) at the Trident Hotel in the early hours of January 9th, 2011, was highly technical and complex but that a file would be sent on the matter to the DPP.
Insp Fogarty said the DPP would then decide whether criminal charges would be brought on foot of the death of Ms Reidy who had been staying in the Trident with her sister, Patricia, while attending a hen party in Kinsale for her cousin, Marie Reidy.
Garda Colin O’Mahony told the inquest in Bandon courthouse how gardaí had been called to the hotel on January 9th, 2011, where he found the body of a young woman in room 113.
Garda O’Mahony said Ms Reidy, who was originally from Ballyhahill in Co Limerick but was living at Sunday’s Well, Lisloose, Tralee, Co Kerry, was pronounced dead at the scene by a local GP, Dr Helen Barrett.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said she conducted a postmortem on Ms Reidy’s body at Cork University Hospital on January 10th, 2011, and found she had died from acute carbon monoxide poisoning. Dr Bolster said Ms Reidy had a carbon monoxide saturation level in her blood of 57 per cent and that anything over 50 per cent can prove fatal.
No traces of alcohol or prescription drugs were detected in Ms Reidy’s system, and she had no other injuries or conditions, she said.
Insp Fogarty applied under section 25 of the Coroners Act, 1962, to have the inquest adjourned pending a decision by the DPP on whether criminal charges are to be brought.
Coroner for west Cork Frank O’Connell granted the application and adjourned the matter until December 6th for mention, saying if the DPP decides to initiate criminal proceedings they were not likely to proceed before 2012.
He said the picture would be clearer by December as to what was likely to happen regarding criminal proceedings in the matter and how long they were likely to take if the DPP decides to prosecute and that would assist him in determining whether to proceed with a full inquest.
Mr O’Connell explained that very often when a fatality leads to a criminal prosecution, there is no need to hold an inquest as the issues have been explored in the criminal case but he would not rule out holding a full inquest into Ms Reidy’s death even if there is a prosecution.
He said it was such an unusual case that he believed there was a legitimate public interest in examining the circumstances of her death so the public would know “what exactly happened from start to finish”.