Family members of a senior garda who died by suicide almost seven years ago have told his inquest of the intense pressure he was under during his investigation of the Regency Hotel shooting in 2016 and the subsequent trial.
Det Supt Colm Fox (56), who was found dead in his office in Ballymun Garda station on February 10th, 2018, was the senior investigating officer tasked with investigating the fatal attack at the hotel in Whitehall, north Dublin – a major escalation in a feud between the Kinahan and Hutch organised crime groups.
Edel Fox, the detective’s widow, told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Monday that her husband was not sleeping and eating poorly during the Special Criminal Court trial of Patrick Hutch, who was accused of murdering David Byrne, a Kinahan associate, at the Regency Hotel on February 5th, 2016. Mr Hutch, of Champion’s Avenue, Dublin 1, had pleaded not guilty to the charge, and subsequently walked free when the trial collapsed following Det Supt Fox’s death.
Ms Fox said that, from the outset of the Regency Hotel shooting investigation, he was under pressure from commissioners to progress the case quicker. “Colm felt under pressure to progress the investigation,” she said.
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On the evening of February 3rd, 2018, while the trial was ongoing, Ms Fox said she found Det Supt Fox in a distressed state at their home in Malahide, north Co Dublin, and that he “did not seem rational”. She said she “knew it had something to do with the trial”.
Ms Fox said Det Supt Fox told her “I may have made a mistake”, but that she had no idea what this meant, because he was not making sense.
“That was like some kind of a turning point,” Ms Fox said. “I nearly felt like something broke in him that night.”
Sgt Michael Ryan told the inquest that on the morning of his death, Det Supt Fox called him into his office in Ballymun Garda station, where they had a “general” conversation about the Regency Hotel trial.
Sgt Ryan said the detective said if he was to “do it all again”, that he would “do some things differently”, although he did not elaborate on his comment.
David Fox, Det Supt Fox’s son, told the inquest that the trial was “hard” for his father who was seeing “his lads” – a reference to his Garda colleagues – being “torn apart”, and “there was nothing he could do about it”. He said his father was working a lot hours at Ballymun Garda station before his death.
Fr Sean Donohoe, the detective’s brother-in-law, told the inquest that on the night of Det Supt Fox’s death, the garda’s father Dessie confronted an assistant commissioner who called to the Fox household, asking: “Why didn’t you mind my son?”
A week before his death, Fr Donohoe said Det Supt Fox had said the Regency shooting would be his last case before retiring from the force.
Ms Fox said that her husband was “devastated” when he was transferred to Ballymun Garda station in 2015, and “the idea of having to go back into the world of crime”. Before moving to Ballymun, he worked in the Garda’s fraud department.
Det Supt Fox had also spent time attached to Blanchardstown Garda station earlier in his career, where investigating violent crimes, she believes, had “taken its toll on him”, she said.
Several family members testified that Det Supt Fox showed no signs that he might harm himself, and that he had been involved in high-profile cases before and “always handled things”. The court also heard how Det Supt Fox was a “perfectionist” who was passionate about his work and “getting justice for victims”.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said she would refer to notes left behind by Det Supt Fox during the inquest, and was of a mind to “open in court” one of the notes. “It will represent what was going through the deceased’s mind [at his time of death],” she said.
The inquest continues.
* If you are affected by this article Samaritans can be reached at 116 123 or jo@samaritans.ie
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