Gardaí to prepare file for DPP following Cork pub death

Gardaí are to start preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the completion of a post-mortem on the body of a man who died two weeks after being assaulted outside a pub in Cork.

Finbarr Lehane (65) from Glen South in Banteer, Co Cork died at Cork University Hospital on Monday, some two weeks after being assaulted outside a pub in Kanturk on October 24th.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a post-mortem on Tuesday on the body of Mr Lehane who suffered serious head injuries in the assault by another man outside the pub.

Gardaí have not yet released the results of Dr Bolster’s post-mortem for operational reasons but it is understood that Mr Lehane suffered blunt force trauma to the head in the assault.

It is understood that Mr Lehane received a blow to the head from his assailant and fell back, hitting his head off the pavement and sustaining serious head injuries which rendered him unconscious.

He was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he was put in an induced coma for several days but his condition began to deteriorate last week and he died at the hospital on Monday.

Garda technical experts carried out a forensic examination of the scene, have taken statements from a number of eye witnesses and have also studied CCTV footage of the incident.

It is understood that gardaí have also spoken to a number of people who were in the pub earlier in the evening where Mr Lehane was accosted a number of times by a man from the Kanturk area.

No arrests have been made but gardaí have already begun compiling witness statements and will now include the results of Dr Bolster’s post-mortem in the file for the DPP.

A well known musician who played the harmonica and the spoons locally in north Cork, Mr Lehane is survived by his wife Josie and grown-up children, Sean, Catherine, Janet, Siobhán and Michael.