A FIFTY-five-year-old man whose body was pulled from a river in Gortafulla, Turlough, outside Castlebar, last February, died ten days before the discovery was made.
An open verdict was recorded in the death of Joe Faulkner on February 22 last, by Coroner John O’Dwyer at an inquest held in Castlebar yesterday (Monday).
Sergeant Henry Gill told the inquest that on February 22 he was in Castlebar Garda Station when a call was received from Adrian Coady who told him that a body had been discovered in the river at Turlough. He believed it was Joe Faulkner, who had been missing for over a week. He went to the scene at Gortnafulla with Superintendent Willie Keavney at 2.30pm, and several men who had known Joe Faulkner was missing and had been looking for him were there. In the water he could see the arm of a partially submerged body.
Shortly afterwards, Detective Garda Keith Coleman arrived with waders and went into the river and retrieved the body which was stuck between rocks. It was identified as that of Joe Faulkner.
Garda Bernie Ansboro told the inquest that on Friday, February 16 last the deceased’s sister Maureen Minogue expressed concern to her at the Garda Station that her brother had left a caravan on the the N5 the previous Thursday to get water and had not returned.
Through enquiries, she found out that nobody had seen him for several days and that he was not in any of the hospitals or centres. When he did not collect his social welfare the following Monday they searched the area near where he was last sighted, but to no avail.
Agnes Fitzpatrick then told the inquest that on Tuesday, February 13 she was out in John Brinklow’s caravan. She had stayed there on the Monday night and so had Joe Faulkner and John Brinklow. Around noon Joe Faulkner left the caravan with a few plastic bottles to go to Gillard’s to get water. He never came back and she didn’t see him again. She added that she didn’t think Joe had any drink prior to leaving the caravan.
Consultant Pathologist at Mayo General Hospital, Dr Iqdam Tobbia, told the inquest that his colleague, Consultant Pathologist Dr Fadim Bennani, performed a post-mortem examination on Joe Faulkner on February 23. He found that Mr Faulkner had died due to asphyxia from drowning in fresh water. He said that acute alcohol intoxication was a contributing factor.
The pathologist concluded that from the presence of decomposition consistent with cases of drowning in cold, fresh water, Mr Faulkner died ten days before his body was discovered.
