Youngest child never got to see his father, inquest of murdered man told

A mother-of-four whose partner was shot dead on his way to work has spoken about how her youngest child had “never set eyes on his father”.

John Lawless (39) died from a gunshot wound to the chest as he made his routine journey to work in the early hours of February 8th, 2019. Nobody has been charged or arrested in connection with his death.

At an inquest hearing on Thursday, the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by a person or persons unknown.

Speaking after the proceedings, Mr Lawless’ partner Trisha Martin, who was pregnant at the time of his death, said his son John Jnr, or JJ, was born six months later.

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“[He] never set eyes on his father and these scumbags [who killed him] are driving around,” she said, following an emotional hearing of evidence as to the cause of her late-partner’s death.

Mr Lawless had been working in fireproofing at a construction site in Smithfield, Dublin. He routinely caught a bus at about 6.30am. On the morning of his death, he left his home at Marigold Crescent in Darndale and was ambushed shortly afterwards at a corner on Marigold Road.

Detective garda Ronan Smith told the inquest the deceased was approached and shot a number of times at close range. The subsequent investigation had followed 311 investigative tasks and took 110 statements, but to date remains open with no arrests.

Mr Lawless was treated at the scene by paramedics before being rushed to Beaumont Hospital. He was receiving treatment on his way in and his right chest wall had been decompressed.

His heartrate was pulseless, an indication of significant harm from which he was unlikely to recover. Chest compressions were initially continued but he was pronounced dead at 7.10am.

Deputy State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis carried out a postmortem which showed that no bullets had been left in his body.

He died from damage caused to his lung and associated hemorrhaging. Mr Lawless had also been shot in his fingers and a third bullet had passed close to his head without making contact, although powder tattooing to his face indicated the shot had been fired from a distance of a few feet.

In her statement to gardaí, read into the court record, Ms Martin said she had been in a relationship with Mr Lawless for 12 years and the couple had lived at their Darndale home with their three children.

Mr Lawless, who would routinely get up at 5.30am to get ready of work, was described as a family man – she said he did not socialise much outside the family home and kept the money he earned in case their children needed anything.

An avid Manchester Utd fan, he would watch football matches with her brothers. “He thought he was a funny man; he used to crack himself up,” she said. “He could be grumpy, but he was happy.”