A paramedic said he feared for the safety of gardaí when he saw George Nkencho wave a knife in the air in front of them, Dublin Coroner’s Court has heard.
Mr Nkencho (27) from Manorfields Drive, Clonee, was shot dead in the front garden of his family home on December 30th, 2020, by members of the Garda Armed Support Unit.
The inquest into Mr Nkencho’s death was first opened on June 21st, 2021, but its formal opening was delayed until this week to allow for investigations by the Garda ombudsman, Fiosrú (previously GSOC) and by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Richard Desay, a former Dublin Fire Brigade officer and now a wenchman for a marine-rescue helicopter crew, told the second day of the inquest that he witnessed Mr Nkencho waving a knife at gardaí in Cherryfield near Mr Nkencho’s home.
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He had gone upstairs to open the curtains when he saw an unmarked Garda car proceeding across the green to the footpath.
He noticed that one of the gardaí had become isolated from the others while Mr Nkencho continued to flay around. The garda was holding a baton and was standing back from Mr Nkencho trying to contain him while he waved a knife.
“He was quite jumpy, hopping from foot to foot. He was reacting to gardaí in an aggressive manner,” Mr Desay told the inquest. “I had serious concerns for the safety of the gardaí.”
Mr Desay disputed evidence from another eyewitness, Kevin Nolan, who told the inquest by way of a written statement that he had witnessed two gardaí with their batons drawn moving at speed towards them.
“That definitely didn’t happen. They didn’t approach him at any speed whatsoever,” Mr Desay replied.
Mr Desay noticed that the gardaí followed Mr Nkencho in three Garda cars, but he passed out of sight.
The inquest jury heard that earlier in the day Mr Nkencho was allowed to queue for nine minutes at the post office counter following his assault in a shop which broke a man’s nose.
The manager of the Eurospar in the Hartstown Shopping Centre, Niall Kinahan, said it was preferable to let Mr Nkencho queue for the post office rather than confront him about the earlier assault of his assistant manager Wayne Swords.
Mr Kinahan said he was in the cash office at the back of the shop when he heard a commotion outside. Mr Swords came into the back room and there was blood running through between his hands, Mr Kinahan recalled.
Mr Kinahan then saw Mr Nkencho outside the shop talking to Gav Pritchard, a football coach, who was trying to calm him down.
He was “pacing and moving around. His eyes were big and bulbous,” Mr Kinahan said.
He was in a dilemma as to whether to let him back into the shop. “Because of his demeanour, I thought it was better to let him join the queue.”
Mr Kinahan said he was left without an assistant manager for months.
“Talking to Wayne, it was both physical and psychological. The trauma really hurt him,” he said.
“I had worked all of Christmas. I was going to take the next few days off, but I ended up working for the next two or three weeks,” he said.
“A lot of them [employees] didn’t want to work in the shop. A lot of the parents of the younger staff didn’t want them to work there. A lot of the elderly staff were the same. It was hard to man the shop.”
Mr Kinahan had observed Mr Nkencho in the shop prior to December 30th, 2020, and he looked “lifeless and on medication” yet he had never presented as a problem before.
Postmistress Martina Shiels said she told Mr Nkencho he was not due his next social welfare payment until the following Monday.
“He was fine when I told him to come back,” she told the inquest.
Mr Pritchard had been his coach during a recreational studies course concentrating on football in 2014. He had not seen him again until December 30th, 2020.
Mr Pritchard said they both walked out of the shop together and he told Mr Nkencho, “George, it’s Gav” and he appeared to calm down.
The inquest in front of the coroner Dr Maya Cullinane is due to last two weeks.
