A recent High Court judgment which ruled that gardai called to give oral evidence at the inquest into the death of a man shot dead during an armed raid will have to do so in public is to be appealed to the Supreme Court by the Dublin City Coroner.
When the inquest into the death of John Morris (26) of Sundale Close, Tallaght, Dublin, was mentioned at Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday, Mr Paul McDonald, representing the gardai, asked what the situation was in light of the judgment.
The Morris family had sought a judicial review of the decision of the coroner to hold the hearing in public, but to identify the gardai only by a letter. This was overturned by the High Court.
The coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, said the ruling would be appealed and Mr McDonald indicated that the gardai involved wished to be joined as a notice party to the appeal even at this late stage of the proceedings. The inquest then was further adjourned.
At an earlier hearing, Dr Farrell had ruled that while forensic evidence would be given on the guns used, the individual guns would not be identified.
A previous hearing was told the lives of the gardai could be at risk if they were identified. A death threat aimed at the garda who had fired the fatal shot had been telephoned to RTE by the INLA.
The coroner was also told that the gardai did not know who had fired the fatal shot.