A High Court judge has directed that the mother of a young Dublin man who died while in Garda custody should have legal representation provided by the State at the inquest into his death.
Mr Justice Paul Gilligan noted that Paul Magee (19) was arrested on December 26th, 2002, for public order offences at the home of a friend. He was said to be displaying signs suggestive of paranoid delusions.
He was handcuffed and placed in a cell at Kilmainham Garda station, where after a short time he was observed to be unconscious.
Despite efforts by gardaí and staff at St James's Hospital to resuscitate him, Mr Magee was pronounced dead in the hospital. A postmortem was carried out by State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy and she concluded that Mr Magee's death was consistent with cocaine-related collapse.
Mr Magee's mother, Theresa Magee, sought to have legal representation at the inquest into her son's death, which has yet to be held, but was told there was no publicly-funded provision for legal aid for inquests.
In High Court proceedings, Ms Magee claimed that several issues arose from her son's death, including questions about his treatment while in custody and the extent to which the State was negligent. She also claimed she had not been kept adequately informed of the circumstances surrounding her son's death.
In that context, she argued she was entitled to have legal representation paid for by the State.
In a reserved judgment yesterday Mr Justice Gilligan said the State pathologist had said, in her report following the postmortem, that samples were retained for toxicological examination which showed that Mr Magee had recently used cocaine.
Dr Cassidy had said this could account for his behaviour and subsequent collapse. Dr Cassidy also said that cocaine in excess can cause seizures, cardiac arrhythmias, collapse and death. She further noted that other injuries sustained by Mr Magee could have occurred in a minor scuffle, but these would not normally be expected to cause or contribute to his death.
Mr Justice Gilligan said it was accepted that Ms Magee did not have the financial means to secure legal representation at the inquest.
"I take the view that, as a result of the death of a citizen while in the custody of An Garda Síochána, it is evident that the next of kin needs the benefit of legal representation in order to deal with any possible apprehension or concern, and also to give the next of kin an effective right of audience before a coroner sitting with a jury," he said.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances of Ms Magee and the fact that her son's death occurred within a very short time of his becoming unconscious while in Garda custody, fair procedures under the Constitution required that she be provided with legal aid, the judge held.