THE FAMILY OF murder victim Liam Murray have secured a High Court order restraining next Monday’s inquest into the 42 year old’s death from proceeding.
The family want the hearing put on hold until their challenge against Dublin City Coroner Dr Brian Farrell refusal to furnish them with the Garda investigation file into their brother’s killing has been determined by the High Court.
Murray, a mechanic, was shot dead in his home at Rockbrook Cottage, Cruagh Road, Rathfarnham on St Patrick’s day 2009. A Garda file was sent to the DPP, who deemed there was insufficient evidence to charge any persons in respect of the killing.
Put on hold
An inquest into Murray’s death, which had been on hold for some time, had been fixed for next Monday.
However Murray’s sisters Fiona, Mairead, Siobhan and Patricia Murray asked the High Court to stop the inquest from going ahead because they are unhappy with the Coroner’s decision not to furnish them with a copy of the Garda investigation file into their brother’s death.
It is claimed Dr Farrell made his decision after the Garda Commissioner, asserting a public interest privilege over the material, requested that the file not be disclosed to the Murray’s and their legal representatives.
Today at the High Court the family’s barrister Breffni Gordon BL said the family, deeply disturbed and upset over the loss of their brother, fear an effective and independent inquest cannot be conducted unless they are given access to the criminal investigation file.
Permission to bring the challenge was granted on an ex-parte basis by Justice Anthony Hunt. The judge, who placed a stay on the inquest from proceeding until the High Court action has been determined, adjourned the case to a date in November.
In their proceedings, against both Farrell and the Garda Commissioner, the siblings seek an order quashing the coroner’s decision to not furnish them with a copy of the investigation file into their brother’s death.
They also seek declarations from the court including that Farrell lacks the jurisdiction to make decisions in the course of an inquest on an assertion of public interest privilege.
They further seek a declaration that the Garda Commissioner has wrongfully asserted a claim of public interest privilege over the investigation file.
Moving the application Gordon told the court that in advance of the inquest the family only received selective materials from the Coroner. This led to discussions involving the parties, as the family claims they require access to all relevant material.
In June Farrell, who was provided with the investigation file by the Gardai, turned down the family’s request that their advisers be provided with the Garda investigation file.
The inquest, the family says, is their only opportunity to discover from an independent and impartial body the true circumstances under which their brother was murdered.
The family have actively sought information and explanations relating to the circumstances that gave rise to their brother’s murder. Murray worked as a mechanic and was a person with no prior convictions.
Before his death, threats were made to his life and had been reported to An Garda Síochána. There remains some disquiet in relation to the manner in which this information was processed and treated, the family also claim.
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