Gardaí are to include the results of a complex postmortem examination in a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the death of a 27-year-old man who collapsed after being restrained by people in a west Cork pub.
The man, a Romanian national, became unresponsive in Allen’s Bar in Riverstick, 17km from Cork City and 10km from Kinsale, shortly after 9pm on Saturday night.
The deceased, who moved to the area just four weeks ago from Limerick, had come into the pub looking for a local man in relation to an incident in which a car was damaged.
It is understood he then left but later returned in an agitated state and as attempts were made to restrain him inside the bar, he collapsed.
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Emergency services were alerted and paramedics, assisted by gardaí, performed CPR but he failed to regain consciousness. He was later pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor. There were between 20 and 30 customers in the bar at the time.
The Irish Times understands that the incident was captured on CCTV inside the premises and gardaí believe the footage will help them establish the sequence of events leading to the man being restrained and falling unconscious.
Gardaí say the postmortem on the man, carried out by State Pathologist Dr SallyAnne Collis at Cork University Hospital, will determine the course of their investigation. While they are not releasing the results for operational reasons, it is understood multiple factors may be at play in the man’s death.
It is believed the pathologist took blood samples for toxicological testing and the results of these tests will be critical. The pathologist was also investigating whether the man had any pre-existing medical conditions that might have contributed to his death.
“It was a complex postmortem examination, and it will take some time for results to come back and a clearer picture to emerge as there appear to be a number of factors involved – it’s definitely not a straightforward matter,” said one Garda source.
The man, who had worked previously in construction in the Limerick area, was living locally in Riverstick in a rented house with a number of other eastern European men and gardaí have spoken to them to try to establish his movements before he went to Allen’s Bar on Saturday.
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Gardaí have yet to release the man’s name. He is believed to have been single and gardaí say they have already set in train procedures to contact the Romanian embassy in Ireland so his family can be informed of his death.
Detectives have already spoken to a number of people who were in the bar at the time, including staff and customers, and have taken a number of preliminary witness statements. However, they are still appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Anyone with information, including road users who were travelling in Riverstick, Co Cork, between 8pm and 9.30pm on Saturday, and who may have camera footage, has been asked to make it available to investigating gardaí.
Anyone with information can contact Bandon Garda station on (023) 885 2200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
