A HOMELESS MAN was crushed to death in a refuse truck, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.
Kevin Fitzpatrick (36), originally from Derby, England, was found by workers at the Mr Binman waste-recycling facility in Grange, Co Limerick, on September 17th last year.
It is believed he had been sleeping in a skip which was loaded on to the back of the rubbish truck.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy told the Coroner's Court in Limerick that Mr Fitzpatrick suffered multiple injuries from his "head to his feet".
She concluded that he died from crush injuries to his chest, a type of trauma that could have been caused by the crushing mechanism of a refuse truck. "He was alive when he went into the back of the truck and this occurred," she said.
Dr Cassidy said many of the other injuries were consistent with his body being tossed around the truck. She said there was a moderate level of alcohol in his blood and suggested he died two hours after he had stopped drinking.
Prof Cassidy said some of the injuries found on Mr Fitzpatrick's arms could have been defensive wounds and it was possible he was assaulted prior to his death and put into the skip.
Gardaí told the inquest that an examination of CCTV footage failed to unearth anything to support this and there was no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved.
The coroner was told that Mr Fitzpatrick, who moved to Ireland seven years before his death and spent time in Dublin and Cork, had a history of sleeping rough.
Det Garda Sandra Healon said she was called to Todd's Row off William Street, Limerick, five days before Mr Fitzpatrick's death where he was reported to be causing a disturbance. She said the homeless man was drunk when gardaí arrived and he jumped on to a skip where he had a sweater and a bag of belongings.
After the inquest yesterday Mr Fitzpatrick's older brother Martin, who travelled from England with his mother and sister for the hearing, said the medical evidence was painful to hear.
"We were aware from quite early on in the case that he was alive going into the skip, so that was quite difficult to imagine but we were prepared for it at least," he said. "What we have heard is how he died. What we didn't hear is why, if he was alive going into the skip, why he didn't try to jump out when he was thrown into the back of the truck."
Kevin's parents came to Ireland to try to persuade him to come home, said Martin Fitzpatrick.
"They did everything possible to get him to come home short of hitting him over the head and bringing him home with them. They came to the conclusion that his lifestyle, which to the rest of us might seem strange, was one that made him happy. I think he used to look at the rest of us living normal lives and wonder why we chose to live like that. It's very tough to accept that he died like that but at the end of the day it's his life and he had to chosen to live it whatever way he wanted to."
Mr Fitzpatrick did not believe his brother was let down by the social services in Ireland.
"The stereotype is that people who are homeless come from broken homes but Kevin didn't have trouble at home, he just kept pushing people away. In this day and age, people having a roof over their head is taken as a given, but Kevin had a home in Derby at one point, but he just chose to live his life a different way."
Mr Fitzpatrick said his mother was touched by the letters of support she had received from people in Ireland following her son's death.