Family calls for new inquiry into cell hanging

A man who died in hospital at the weekend after he attempted to hang himself while in Garda custody may have been mistreated, his family has claimed.

The family of Terence Wheelock from Dublin's north inner city has called for an independent inquiry into his death.

Mr Wheelock was detained by gardaí in a cell in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd last, where he attempted to hang himself with a cord taken from his tracksuit bottoms.

Gardaí and fire brigade officers rushed Mr Wheelock to the Mater hospital, where he died on Friday having never regained consciousness.

Evidence was given that the cord had been secured so low down on the wall that Mr Wheelock had to kneel in his bid to strangle himself. Yet his family has claimed that he was not suicidal and laid flowers at the Garda station on Saturday.

The family also insists that Mr Wheelock suffered bruising and sustained a cut. Neither gardaí nor fire officers supported this allegation.

A Garda inquiry was set up to look into the circumstances surrounding Mr Wheelock's death. However, family members claim they have not been given access to its findings or the statements which were made.

The family has called for an independent inquiry along the lines of the Rossiter inquiry into the death of a 14-year-old boy found unconscious in a Garda cell in Clonmel in 2002.