The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, has ruled that a number of gardai will have to give oral evidence at the inquest into the death of a man who was shot dead during an armed raid in Inchicore last year.
But they will not be named and will be referred to only by an identifying letter during the hearing. Dr Farrell also ruled that, while forensic evidence on the guns used by the gardai would be given, the individual guns would not be identified.
Dr Farrell adjourned the inquest into the death of Mr John Morris (26), of Sundale Close, Tallaght, to October 15th for mention. On that date he will also hear any further submissions from counsel representing the gardai concerned, the Garda Commissioner and the Morris family.
An earlier hearing was told the lives of the gardai could be at risk if they were called to testify openly in the case. A death threat specifically against the garda who fired the fatal shot had been telephoned to RTE by the INLA, it was said.
The coroner also was told that the gardai involved in the incident did not know who fired the fatal shot and that it was unnecessary for them to know this.
Dr Farrell said yesterday he had reviewed the legislation and case law pertaining to the matter and found there was no record of an inquest being held in camera in this jurisdiction. The legislation was specific that inquests must be held in public.
He said the rules on "best evidence" applied to the Coroner's Court, which meant the witnesses should be present to give their evidence and be examined on it by the coroner and properly interested persons.
He said the coroner had discretion to admit documentary evidence if there was no objection to it from the interested parties. But in practice this only applied when some minor aspect of the case was involved and not the main evidence in the case.
"It is my view that on a reading of the case law to hear an inquest without the material witnesses giving evidence would be fatally flawed and subject to challenge in the Supreme Court," he said.
But Dr Farrell said there were precedents for giving Garda witnesses anonymity from cases heard at the Dublin Coroner's Court in April and October 1992: a High Court compensation claim involving one of the same gardai; and from case law in Northern Ireland which had allowed members of the security forces anonymity in a number of inquests.
Dr Farrell said it would be necessary to admit the ballistic reports on the various weapons but he would exclude the identification details of the guns involved because of the threat to the personal security of the gardai.
Mr Paul Carroll BL, for the Morris family, said his clients had asked him to say they had no connection with any threats made to gardai and they regretted that such threats had been made.