GARDAÍ WHO SHOT dead two men as they attempted to rob a post office in Dublin six years ago did so in proportionate and lawful manner, the Garda Ombudsman has found.
Eric Hopkins and Colm Griffin were shot and killed as they tried to rob nearly €50,000 from The Village Store and Post Office in Lusk, Co Dublin on 26 May 2005 at around 8am.
A third man involved in the incident, Gavin Farrelly, was later convicted for the robbery.
An investigation found that Griffin was armed with a handgun at the time of the incident, Hopkins was unarmed while Farrelly was in possession of a sledge hammer.
The Ombudsman was investigating a complaint by the family of Hopkins that Gardaí should have intervened sooner and that the use of lethal force was unlawful.
However, in its report published today, the complaint was rejected after the Ombudsman found that force was justified as there was “an immediate and real risk to life” to one of the Gardaí involved.
The report found that the use of force was “proportionate, lawful and no more than absolutely necessary.”
However, it did identify a number of weaknesses in the planning of the operation which led to the Garda being in a position where he was required to “make a split-second life and death decision.”
In making a number of recommendations the report said that the Gardaí were now reviewing their use of force policies, procedures and training.
In light of the findings, no file will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions nor will any disciplinary file be forwarded to the Gardaí.
The family of Colm Griffin had also complained but the Ombudsman investigating said that the case for Griffin was inadmissible because it was outside the time limit.
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