THE GARDA Ombudsman Commission is to send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the death of a Dublin boy who was struck by an unmarked Garda car near Finglas village in March.
Dean Ward (7), Carrigallen Drive, Finglas, died after he was hit by the vehicle while crossing the road with his brother near the Clearwater Shopping Centre, Finglas, on March 8th.
The boy was brought to Temple Street Children's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A postmortem by State pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy found he died of head and neck injuries due to the road traffic incident, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday at an opening of the inquest into Dean's death.
Ombudsman commissioner Conor Brady told Dublin city coroner Dr Brian Farrell that the Garda Ombudsman Commission had completed its investigation and would be forwarding the file to the DPP within weeks.
He applied for a six-month adjournment of the inquest, which the coroner granted under section 25.1 of the Coroner's Act 1962.
Dr Farrell adjourned the inquest until February next year when the commissioner will inform the court as to the DPP's decision. He released a copy of the postmortem to Mr Brady.
He expressed his condolences to Dean's father, Francis Ward, who was in court yesterday with his brother-in-law.
Mr Ward has four other children.