BARR TRIBUNAL: As Mr John Carthy left his house and walked down the road after the siege, he had a "crazy look" in his eyes and "a terrible yellow colour in his face", a detective garda told the Barr Tribunal yesterday.
Det Garda John Quinn, who was armed, was one of the only people who saw Mr Carthy's face when he walked out of the house in Abbeylara, Co Longford, shortly before being fatally shot by Emergency Response Unit (ERU) members on April 20th, 2000.
Garda Quinn said at 5.45 p.m. on April 20th he was sitting in the jeep known as the command post down the road from the house when he saw an increase in movement of the ERU men and in gardaí near him.
He got out of the jeep and started to run forward to see what was happening. He could hear ERU members shouting: "Armed gardaí, John, put down the gun." He only went a couple of steps when somebody shouted for him to get back. He and other gardaí retreated to the jeep. He was at the right-hand side of the jeep towards the back when he saw Mr Carthy for the first time.
Mr Carthy came out of the gate carrying his shotgun which was open but he closed it and walked out onto the roadway, turning in their direction.
Garda Quinn said he ran forward to get the keys out of the ignition. He was eliminating the possibility that Mr Carthy could get into the jeep. He could see Mr Carthy walking with the gun levelled straight out in front of him.
"He had a crazy look in his eyes. He was a terrible yellow colour. He was striding purposefully," Garda Quinn said.
Asked to describe what he meant by "crazy look", Garda Quinn said: "He had wide eyes, a terrible yellow colour in his face as if his skin was too tight for his face, a very strained look."
Mr Carthy was looking straight in front of him and did not break his stride, he said. Garda Quinn grabbed the keys from the jeep and was moving towards the back of it when he heard three or four shots.