Senior gardaí have defended the actions of officers on the day John Carthy was shot dead by Garda marksmen in Abbeylara, Co Longford, over a year ago.
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Garda Commissioner
Pat Byrne who gave evidence at the Abbelara Inquiry. |
At the Oireachtas sub-committee inquiry into the shooting, Garda Commissioner Mr Pat Byrne said the action taken by officers on the ground was totally appropriate.
He said it was unfortunate and tragic their actions resulted in the shooting of Mr Carthy. He said he believed it was right to bring in the emergency response unit.
Mr Byrne was giving evidence on the third day of the inquiry.
Chf Supt Adrian Culligan, who investigated the incident at Abbeylara, told the inquiry the tactical decision not to grant John Carthy's request for cigarettes was appropriate. He backed the decision of the negotiator at the scene.
Earlier Mr Byrne was questioned about the relevance to Mr Culligan's report of the inclusion of a comment stating Mr Carthy's handball prowess and perceived gambling problem.
Mr Byrne said: "in hindsight, if we were preparing the report again, perhaps we would not have included that". The report had said John Carthy's prowess as a handball player was overstated.
Mr Brendan Howlin TD put it to Mr Byrne that this statement about handball was not substantiated by any other statements given by witnesses in the report. Mr Byrne said that he stood by what was in the report.
Mr Howlin also questioned Mr Byrne about a comment in the report regarding the perceived gambling problem of Mr Carthy.
It was put to him that these issues would not have been known to gardaí at the time of the shooting, so therefore should not have been in the Garda report.
The Commissioner said the report was to be handed to the DPP and therefore had to be comprehensive to aid the DPP in any decision he might make on the shooting at Abbeylara.