Carthy 'seemed quite well' a month before shooting

THE BARR TRIBUNAL: Mr John Carthy seemed quite well a month before his death and was looking forward to getting on with his life, a doctor told the Barr tribunal yesterday.

Mr Carthy (27) was shot dead by armed gardaí after a stand-off at his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, on April 20th, 2000.

The circumstances of his death are being investigated by the tribunal, which is sitting in Bow Street, Dublin.

Dr Gerard Meagher told the tribunal he saw Mr Carthy on a few occasions as he worked with Mr Carthy's GP, Dr Patrick Cullen.

When Dr Meagher last saw Mr Carthy on March 20th, he seemed quite well and did not seem to be "high", as he had been on a visit the previous month.

Mr Carthy had got a new job in Longford, was looking forward to starting work and appeared to be more settled, Dr Meagher said.

"He was as good as I would have expected him to be."

However, Dr Meagher was not very surprised to hear that Mr Carthy was the person involved in the situation with gardaí in Abbeylara.

It was not unexpected that a person who experienced an episode of mania should "run into problems" quite quickly, he said.

"John was quite well, but still very brittle. So I wasn't extremely surprised."

Dr Meagher took issue with the use of the word "siege" to describe the events in Abbeylara.

This word was used in his statement to gardaí, but he said it was not his choice of phrase.

He would have called it a "situation", not a "siege".

Later, the tribunal heard that Mr Carthy had neither overdosed nor underdosed on his Lithium medication before the events at Abbeylara.

Dr Kevin Cunnane, consultant pathologist at Mullingar Hospital, carried out a blood test the day after Mr Carthy's death.

He found that the Lithium levels in Mr Carthy's blood were within the therapeutic range.

Lithium is a mood-stabiliser and is often prescribed for patients with manic depression.

The tribunal also heard from Dr Niall Donohoe, a Granard-based GP who treated Mr Carthy on a few occasions. The first time Mr Carthy called to him, he was in a "depressed, anxious and upset state", Dr Donohoe said.

His patient was restless and tearful and seemed to be excessively upset over a back pain he had sustained in an accident.

Dr Donohoe recommended his admission to St Loman's Psychiatric Hospital in Mullingar, where he was diagnosed with a relapse of a unipolar depressive illness.

On April 20th, 2000, Dr Donohoe was asked by gardaí to go to Abbeylara "urgently". He had heard that shots had been fired in Abbeylara, and understood there had been a development.

When he arrived, he was brought down towards the house by gardaí.

"John Carthy's body was lying on the side of the road, and the ambulance personnel and some of the gardaí were trying to resuscitate him," Dr Donohoe said.

He also tried to resuscitate Mr Carthy, but later pronounced him dead.

The tribunal saw photographs of the scene at Abbeylara, including a photograph of Mr Carthy's body, covered by a red blanket, on the spot where he fell on the road.

Today the tribunal will hear evidence from Dr David Shanley, Mr Carthy's consultant psychiatrist.

It has already heard that Dr Shanley wrote a letter to gardaí in Granard, saying that Mr Carthy was fit to use a firearm. Mr Carthy's GP, Dr Cullen, had earlier declined to write the letter. Dr Shanley will also give evidence about his attendance at Abbeylara on the day Mr Carthy was shot.