Emmanuel Nkencho has told an inquest into the death of his brother, George Nkencho, that two gardaí visited their family home in the weeks leading up to the fatal shooting.
One of the officers, Emmanuel Nkencho said, was Garda Desmond Mulvihill, who gave evidence at the inquest on Thursday. The visit, two or three weeks before December 30th, 2020, was about George experiencing a mental episode.
In his own evidence, Garda Mulvihill had acknowledged that George Nkencho was known to him, though he did not immediately recognise him on the day of the shooting and he did not know his name. He said he had dealt with Mr Nkencho in the past in relation to his mental health and that he had visited the house.
Shortly after midday on December 30th, 2020, Emmanuel Nkencho was upstairs in his sister’s bedroom at 15 Manorfields Drive in Clonee, Co Dublin. He and his sisters, Grateful and Gloria Nkencho, were the only people in the house at the time and they rushed downstairs in response to a loud commotion outside.
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Through a window beside the front door of the house, Grateful Nkencho saw her brother George. Gloria Nkencho opened the door to the stand-off involving her brother and armed members of An Garda Síochána.
According to Emmanuel Nkencho, Gloria tried to explain that George was her brother and that he had problems with his mental health. Emmanuel Nkencho said this was shut down, as gardaí instructed her to get back inside and close the door, which she did.
Describing the moment in his deposition, which was read aloud as he was introduced at the Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Friday, Emmanuel Nkencho said: “This was extremely difficult to watch. I still didn’t know what was happening. Both of my sisters looked very shocked, too. I could see it in their eyes.”
Watching the scene unfold through the window, Emmanuel Nkencho said he saw shots being fired and George’s body reacting physically to the gunfire. He saw his brother raising a knife in his hand. In his deposition, Emmanuel Nkencho said he did not know where his brother got the knife and that it would not have been normal for him to carry one.
When he saw his brother being shot a second time, Emmanuel Nkencho said he turned around and did not want to see any more.
“My sisters were screaming and crying. I heard three more shots after I had turned around,” he said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, several gardaí entered the house, and, Emmanuel Nkencho said, he recorded them on his phone and tried to ask for information about what had just happened. To the best of his knowledge, Garda Mulvihill was one of those who entered the house, he said.
Emmanuel Nkencho, who is now 25, was 20 at the time..
Another brother, Victor Nkencho, then aged 16, greeted George on the morning of his death. “Everything seemed normal,” he told the inquest.
Earlier in the inquest, footage captured by a witness to the shooting of George Nkencho was played.
The short piece of footage, taken by Alan O’Reilly from the green area opposite the Nkenchos’ house, shows a confrontation in the driveway of 15 Manorfields Drive in Clonee.
As the first shot is fired, the video footage zooms in and George Nkencho appears to be facing the front door of his family home, with his back to gardaí. Subsequently, Mr Nkencho turns back around and begins swinging a knife in the direction of gardaí.
Mr O’Reilly had been out walking his dog on the morning of December 30th, 2020. He first noticed members of the Garda armed response unit and then saw Mr Nkencho, who was being trailed by gardaí from a distance of, he estimates, 10 to 15 feet.
When Mr Nkencho arrived in the front garden of his family home, a “stand-off” ensued, Mr O’Reilly said. His video footage, which was 13 seconds long, did not capture the confrontation in full. He recalled a lot of commotion and repeated shouts of “get down, get down” from gardaí.
Mr O’Reilly uploaded his footage to Snapchat, but later removed it on the advice of his girlfriend. He captured a second piece of video footage of gardaí attempting to resuscitate Mr Nkencho.
The inquest continues.
