UK inquest into Joe Deacy death deferred

Family hope Irish inquest will lead to new information

Anton McNulty

AN inquest in the UK into the death of Joe Deacy, who was found unconscious outside a home near Swinford, has been deferred following a request from the family.
Twenty-one-year-old Joe Deacy (right) from St Alban’s, Hertfordshire, UK was found lying unresponsive outside a house at Gortnasillagh, Swinford on August 12, 2017 and died the following day in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.
A post-mortem carried out by the State Pathologist, Professor Marie Cassidy found the cause of death was due to blunt force trauma to the head, which resulted in gardaí opening a murder investigation. Despite a number of subsequent arrests, nobody has been charged with his killing.
While the main inquest is due to take place in Dublin, under English law a coroner may also hear an inquest in England if a UK citizen is killed overseas. Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court was due to hear an inquest into the death of Joe Deacy on March 24 but the coroner has agreed to defer the matter to a later date.
In a statement from the Deacy family, they said they hoped the date of the Dublin inquest will be announced later in the year and this will allow them to ‘ascertain how Joe was murdered’.
“We trust that the inquest may provide us with an opportunity to ask the relevant questions to all the emergency services personnel involved, and for us to question witnesses.
“The inquest we know will not put Joe’s murder(s) behind bars, but we believe, as the details of his actual gruesome murder are highlighted, that this may persuade anyone with any information, to fully examine their conscience and finally speak to the gardaí,” the statement read.