A DISPUTE over whether the State should pay the €1,500 costs of an independent autopsy on the body of a man who died on New Year’s Day as a result of an alleged assault in Dublin was settled at the High Court yesterday.
The settlement means the funeral of the man may now proceed.
A suspect in the alleged assault had brought the proceedings seeking financial assistance towards the postmortem on grounds he was unemployed and unable to pay for it himself.
Paul Rice, Clanhugh Road, Donnycarney, Dublin, sought an order for the State to pay the costs and also sought a prohibition on the DPP from charging him with assault without an independent autopsy being carried out.
The case arose from the death of Keith Mills (22), also from Donnycarney, who was allegedly assaulted during an incident in a house in Coolock on December 22nd last, and who died from his injuries in Beaumont Hospital on New Year’s Day.
Mr Rice was charged on December 22nd with two public order offences and was freed on bail to appear in court on January 9th.
After Mr Mills’s death, Mr Rice was informed a file would be sent to the DPP in relation to the alleged assault. Gardaí offered Mr Rice the opportunity to have his own postmortem carried out on the body and Mr Rice’s solicitor organised for an independent post-mortem to take place this morning.
The High Court case was taken after the Department of Justice refused to approve the cost of this postmortem, saying Mr Rice had not been charged in connection with Mr Mills’s death but with public order offences.
Mr Rice argued that, as he would receive free legal aid for the defence of any serious assault charge which might be brought against him, it followed he would also be entitled to payment for the costs of his defence but it would then be too late to carry out a post-mortem.
Following discussions yesterday between lawyers for both sides, Michael O’Higgins SC, for Mr Rice, told Mr Justice Kevin Feeney the matter had been resolved and the proceedings could be struck out.
Earlier Mr O’Higgins told the court that arrangements had been put in place for a Newcastle-based pathologist to carry out the autopsy today.
This was a case of enormous sensitivity because the family of Mr Mills was waiting to go ahead with the funeral of their son, counsel said.