George Nkencho's mother says 'nothing out of ordinary' about his behaviour in weeks before death

Seán McCárthaigh

The mother of George Nkencho, who was fatally injured by armed gardaí outside his home in west Dublin five years ago, has told an inquest that there was “nothing out of the ordinary” about her son’s behaviour in the weeks before his death.

Blessing Nkencho gave evidence at a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court that her son had no issues with his mental health around the time of the fatal incident.

Ms Nkencho described how he had loved football and had worked as a coach in both Scotland and Ireland.

However, she claimed he was affected mentally by a car accident in 2014 when he was in a vehicle driven by a friend which had made him become more isolated and solitary in his behaviour.

Ms Nkencho said they were “waiting for something to happen” after their family doctor had written to a hospital about him.

“All George needed was help,” she observed.

Sitting close to a large photo of her son on a video screen, Ms Nkencho recalled how he used to tell her he was going to be married by the time he was 29 and would have five children – three boys and two girls – as well as grandchildren.

“I always thought he would be fine. I never thought a day like this would happen,” she added.

Commenting on the impact of her son’s death, Ms Nkencho said: “Since George left, my life has never been the same. I have depression and I can’t sleep.”

Ms Nkencho said she thought her memory of her son would fade with time before adding: “It keeps coming because he never had a natural death.”

Under cross-examination by counsel for An Garda Síochána, Ms Nkencho denied that he had mental health issues at the time of his death.

“He was fine. There were no issues with him,” she remarked.

Ms Nkencho also denied that her son was violent or that she had any concerns about the safety of her family over his behaviour.

She acknowledged that he had been referred to the mental health services in Blanchardstown but that he had not attended when someone had called to the family home to assess him.

Evidence

The inquest also heard evidence that the deceased punched a store manager in the face without warning before producing a knife a short time before his death.

A number of eyewitnesses described how Mr Nkencho was involved in an unprovoked attack on staff at the Eurospar store in Hartstown on December 30th, 2020.

The inquest, which is expected to last three weeks, is due to focus on events which occurred in a 76-minute period before the fatal shooting.

Mr Nkencho (27) suffered fatal gunshot wounds after a stand-off developed between him and members of the Garda Armed Support Unit outside his family home at Manorfields Drive, Clonee, Co Dublin.

The tense situation arose shortly after Mr Nkencho had been involved in the incident at the Eurospar store which was 1.2km away from his home.

The young man, the eldest of five siblings whose family originally come from Nigeria, was pronounced dead a short time later at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

The inquest is being attended by members of Mr Nkencho’s family including his sisters, Gloria and Grateful, and brothers, Emmanuel and Victor as well as Dublin West Socialist Party TD, Ruth Coppinger.

At the outset of the proceedings, Dublin City senior coroner, Myra Cullinane, acknowledged that the inquest would be “very difficult” for Mr Nkencho’s family.

'Very distressing facts'

“We will be mindful of that at all points,” said Dr Cullinane who noted the inquest would hear “very distressing facts".

The coroner told the jury of five women and five men that they had to examine the extent to which the circumstances of Mr Nkencho’s death contributed to the medical cause of his death.

However, Dr Cullinane reminded them that they could not blame or exonerate any party or make any finding that pointed towards criminal or civil liability.

She also advised the jury that they could make recommendations designed to prevent future deaths or ones in the interest of public safety.

Counsel for An Garda Síochána, Ronan Kennedy SC, offered his condolences to Ms Nkencho and her family on their “very sad loss.”

Evidence is scheduled to be heard from around 50 witnesses including two members of the GASU who have been granted anonymity by the coroner who also directed that they give their testimony behind a screen where they will only be visible to the coroner, jury and legal representatives.

The DPP directed last year that no garda should face prosecution over the circumstances of Mr Nkencho’s death based on a file submitted by Fiosrú – previously known as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission – who had conducted a lengthy investigation into the fatal incident.

An appeal by the deceased’s family against the DPP’s ruling was unsuccessful.

The inquest is continuing at the Dublin City Coroner’s Court in Store Street this afternoon.