Gardaí investigating the deaths of two men in unrelated incidents do not believe foul play was a factor in one case but were still trying to determine if the other deceased man was assaulted before he died at his home.
One of the deceased was found dead on Moore St in Dublin’s north inner city where he was apparently sleeping rough in a sleeping bag. The remains of the 30-year-old were discovered at 8.30am on Saturday.
While gardaí sealed off the area as a potential crime scene, they now do not suspect foul play, though the results of a postmortem were awaited to confirm that.
Cllr Anthony Lyons, who represents the Dublin Central constituency where the man died and who also co-founded the Inner City Helping Homeless agency, has called for “a full investigation into circumstances as to why this person was sleeping rough”.
The other fatality under investigation was that of a Polish man who died at his home in Lusk, north Co Dublin, last week. His death was being treated as “unexplained” and gardaí were trying to determine if he had been in an altercation, or was assaulted, just before his death.
The man, who was aged in his 50s, was found in the bedroom of a home in the Ballastown area at around 5pm last Wednesday. As foul play has not been ruled out gardaí were still appealing to people who may have seen the man in the Lusk area to come forward.
The dead man was last seen alive last Monday evening and gardaí believe a male pedestrian who was on the Skerries Road, Commons Lane or Hill Lane in Lusk between 6pm and 8pm on March 1st was the deceased.
The man was wearing a “navy blue track suit bottoms and a black zip up bomber jacket and was carrying a distinctive ‘Lidl Deluxe’ shopping bag (with) black with white writing,” the Garda said in a statement.
CCTV
An incident room has been established at Balbriggan garda station and a senior investigative officer has been appointed.
Sources say an official murder investigation has not yet been launched but that gardaí are being given all the resources of a murder inquiry. Investigators are in the process of canvassing CCTV from the area and several witness statements have already been taken.
The man was living in a mobile home and was working as a farm labourer. gardaí are exploring the theory he sustained injuries just before he died and that they may have resulted in, or contributed to, his sudden death.
Following the discovery of the man’s body on Wednesday the remains were taken to Dublin City Morgue in Whitehall where a postmortem took place on Thursday. The Garda said it is not releasing the results of the postmortem “for operational reasons”.
“An Garda Síochána are looking to speak with any person with any information in relation to this ongoing investigation,” it said, with anyone who believed they had information about the man asked to contact Balbriggan station.
