A Dublin woman who has failed over six years to give evidence at an inquest into the fatal shooting of her husband has been ordered by the Supreme Court to attend the inquest on September 18th.
The three-judge Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal by Ms Lynda Lee against a High Court order that she attend the inquest into the death of her husband Gerald Lee. He was shot dead during a birthday party in Coolock, Dublin, on March 9th, 1996.
The High Court was told Ms Lee, a mother of three, of Seabury Court, Malahide, Co Dublin, was one of the last people to have seen her husband alive and was present when he was shot.
The court heard she attended the inquest on one occasion but then refused to comply with numerous summonses served on her to attend the reconvened inquest.
The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, has said that he cannot conclude the inquest without her evidence.
On June 7th, the High Court made an order that she attend the inquest on July 10th. Ms Lee later secured a stay on that order pending her appeal to the Supreme Court.
In submissions for that appeal, Ms Lee argued that when the inquest opened originally, she had voluntarily attended and given evidence, including a written statement, outlining the events of the night of her husband's death.
The State argued Ms Lee was an essential witness in the proceedings and submitted she had advanced no substantive grounds of appeal against the High Court decision.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, sitting with Ms Justice Denham and Mr Justice Murray, unanimously dismissed the appeal and awarded costs against Ms Lee.