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Adjournment of inquest into deaths of three men killed on N7 while fleeing gardaí criticised by families

Cononer grants open-ended adjournment to allow for contentious prosecution of garda over fatal incident

Solicitor for the Maguire family, Michael Finnucane, with Sheila Maguire and Sally Ann Maguire, Dean Maguire's mother and wife respectively, attending the Dublin District Coroner's Court for the inquests into the deaths of Maguire, Graham Taylor and Karl Freeman. Photograph: Colin Keegan / Collins Dublin

Seán McCárthaigh
Wed Jun 14 2023 - 12:14

A lawyer for the family of one of three men killed in a collision on the N7 in Dublin two years ago while fleeing from gardaí has accused a coroner of treating the families of the deceased outrageously over her decision to grant an open-ended adjournment of an inquest into their deaths to allow for the prosecution of a garda over the fatal incident.

Solicitor Michael Finucane claimed the coroner, Clare Keane, was “fundamentally in error” in granting an adjournment without fixing a date for the next hearing of the inquest without hearing any evidence.

He claimed the coroner’s ruling was “utterly deficient” in terms of her obligation under the European Convention on Human Rights to monitor the progress of a criminal prosecution in the case.

The three victims – Dean Maguire (29), Karl Freeman (26) and Graham Taylor (31) – were killed instantly when the BMW they were driving burst into flames following a head-on crash with a truck between Citywest and Baldonnel on July 7th, 2021. At the time they were driving on the wrong side of the carriageway in an attempt to escape gardaí who were pursuing them.

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Dean Maguire, Carl Freeman and Graham Taylor who all died when the BMW vehicle they were in burst into flames following a high-speed crash with a truck on July 7th, 2021 while they were fleeing from gardaí. Photographs: Facebook

Mr Finucane, who represents the Maguire family, claimed Dr Keane had failed the families of the dead men in her obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

During a tense exchange with the coroner, Mr Finucane remarked: “In terms of your function and your inquiry function, you could not have failed more starkly in your obligations to my clients and the families of the other deceased men.”

Dr Keane granted an adjournment of the inquest at a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday after a representative of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) informed the hearing that criminal proceedings had been instituted in relation to the case.

It emerged at a previous preliminary hearing of the inquest last month that a garda is to face a criminal prosecution in relation to his driving on the night that the three men were killed.

At the start of the latest hearing, GSOC official, David Grant applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25.2 of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings had been instituted in the case.

Solicitor James MacGuill for the Taylor family, interjected to say his clients were entitled to know the nature of the proceedings as “an issue of fairness”.

Mr MacGuill said the families should be informed if the garda was to face one or multiple charges.

“It is not an unreasonable request,” he added.

The coroner said she did not want to open matters any further as it could prejudice a related criminal prosecution. She said a GSOC-appointed family liaison officer should be able to engage with the families about the charges.

The decision of the DPP to prosecute a garda in relation to his driving on the night of the fatal incident and the manner in which the details of the prosecution emerged in the coroner’s court has been sharply criticised by Garda representative bodies.

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