Gardaí have been cleared of any wrongdoing after a postmortem examination revealed that a 51-year-old Estonian man found unconscious in a Garda cell died from self-inflicted head injuries.
Sergei Solovei from Estonia was found lying unconscious in a cell at Togher Garda station in Cork at about 8.20am on April 27th last and was rushed to Cork University Hospital.
He was put on a ventilator but died on May 1st.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy appointed a senior officer from outside Cork City Division to investigate what happened to Mr Solovei following his arrest.
Supt Pat McCarthy of Mallow Garda station in the Cork North Division put together an inquiry team.
Supt McCarthy confirmed to The Irish Times that a file had been prepared and forwarded but that the DPP was satisfied there had been no criminal action involved.
"A full postmortem was carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster which showed that Mr Solovei's injuries were self-inflicted and this corroborated the account given to my team by the officers from Togher whom we interviewed," said Supt McCarthy.
Mr Solovei had been arrested on the Carrigrohane Road by gardaí after officers received a report at 6.40am on April 27th last of criminal damage being caused to a block of apartments at Victoria Cross where some windows had been smashed.
Mr Solovei arrived at Togher Garda station at 7.05am. He was processed and put alone into a cell where he was checked a number of times.
However, at 8.20am gardaí found him lying on the floor unconscious after it appeared he had suffered a head injury.
The Irish Times understands that gardaí told the investigating team Mr Solovei became distressed while in the cell and ran at the cell door, banging his head against it a number of times, and that this was supported by the postmortem examination.
The investigation by Supt McCarthy involved officers from Mallow interviewing some 10 gardaí involved in either Mr Solovei's arrest or his subsequent detention as well as a forensic examination of the cell.
The inquiry team also carried out door-to-door interviews of residents in the Victoria Cross area and traced Mr Solovei's movements from Victoria Cross to his arrest on the Carrigrohane Road.
In all close to 100 people were interviewed as part of the inquiry.
Supt McCarthy confirmed that gardaí will now prepare a file on Mr Solovei's death for the Coroner's Court and the file will include the results of toxicology and blood tests carried out by Dr Bolster during the postmortem examination.
