Anton McNulty
The inquest of a 68-year-old man who died as a result of ‘blunt force trauma’ heard that his death occurred as a result of a fall and not foul play.
The body of Michael Gillespie of Byhalla, Attymass, was found in his home by his nephew on January 12, 2016, in what was not believed to be suspicious circumstances.
However, the initial postmortem found that Mr Gillespie had suffered a fractured skull, and the State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy was asked to take over the examination in Mayo University Hospital.
Prof Cassidy discovered that the cause of death was due to blunt force trauma to the skull, resulting in subarachnoid hemorrhage with sub-gastrointestinal hemorrhage and liver disease a contributing factor.
The inquest heard that a few days previously, Mr Gillespie had complained of spitting up blood, and blood was found near where he was found, and in the bathroom. The Garda investigation following the postmortem was hampered by the fact that relatives of the deceased man had cleaned away some of the blood stains.
However, Sergeant Noel Crinnegan explained that a full and thorough investigation into the death of Mr Gillespie was carried out. They found no signs of forced entry into the house and a ‘substantial’ amount of money had not been taken from the house.
No evidence
“There was no evidence that a third party was present [at the time of death],” Sgt Crinnegan told the inquest, which was held last Thursday in Ballina Courthouse.
“From the forensic examination, [it was] only really his [Mr Gillespie’s] blood which was found, and there was no suggestion anything else occurred,” he said.
Dr Tomas Nemeth, Consultant Pathologist, said that while he could not definitely exclude the possibility that the trauma was caused by a third party, he was 99 percent certain the injuries were due to natural causes.
The inquest had earlier heard evidence from Mr Gillespie’s neighbour, Thomas Gallagher, who had visited him on Saturday, January 9, 2016, and did some shopping for him in Foxford. On Monday, January 11, Mr Gallagher said he saw a light in the kitchen and bathroom but there was no answer from anyone inside. He said he got worried and later called his nephew to tell him he had not seen him.
Mr Gallagher added that Mr Gillespie had said he had been spitting up blood, and he did not look good at all.
Michael Ferguson, nephew of Mr Gillespie, said he called to the house with his wife at 5.15pm. The lights in the bathroom and kitchen were on, and he saw his uncle lying in the hallway when he looked through the letterbox.
The door was forced open, and Mr Ferguson said there was blood around his uncle’s mouth and nose. He added there was blood around the lino and blood and vomit in the bathroom.
His wife Maria said that when the body was taken from the house she started to clean up the blood as it did not occur to them that he had suffered a head injury.
Mr Gillespie, a single man was described as a gentleman who was well-liked in his community and had worked in the oil industry in Scotland before coming back to his home place. The inquest also heard he had a history of drink problems and of previous falls.
The coroner for north Mayo, Dr Eleanor Fitzgerald recorded a verdict of accidental death and praised the neighbours of Mr Gillespie for keeping an eye on him. The relatives of Mr Gillespie also thanked his neighbours and to the Coroner and the Gardaí in Ballina.
