An open verdict was returned yesterday at an inquest into the death of a man who died from head injuries after being discovered unconscious in a house in Wexford.
Alfreds Jirgens (58) of Beachside Walk, Rivervalley Drive, Courtown, Co Wexford died at Beaumont Hospital on March 11th, 2005, 11 days after friends found him at home in an unconscious condition, with bloodstains on his face.
A subsequent postmortem carried out by the State Pathologist, Prof Marie Cassidy, revealed that Mr Jirgens, who was originally from the Latvian capital, Riga, and had extensive injuries all over his body, died from severe head injuries (which included a subdural haemorrhage and inter-cranial haemorrhage with con-tusions of the brain.)
He had also suffered crush-type injuries to the chest, including an injury which had the appearance of a tyre mark.
According to a report by Dr Cassidy, this type of brain injury could have been caused by a fall from a height such as a fall down the stairs, but it would also be consistent with impact from a vehicle.
She said the patient could initially have regained consciousness, before drifting into complete unconsciousness.
The deceased had no defence-type injuries, the inquest heard.
Insp Eamon O'Sheil of Courtown, Co Wexford, told the court that an extensive Garda inquiry had been mounted following the death of Mr Jirgens, who was employed as a building labourer by self-employed builder, Brendan O'Donoghue. However, gardaí had been unable to find any explanation for the injuries sustained by Mr Jirgens.
No charges have been brought in relation to Mr Jirgen's death, he told the court.
"Although there is conflicting evidence there is no suggestion that there was third party involvement," he said.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell told the jury: "We are not saying that there wasn't third party involvement, but we haven't been able to clarify what happened." The jury returned an open verdict.
The court heard that Mr Jirgens was in good form when Mr O'Donoghue dropped him home from work on the evening of Saturday, February 26th, along with a fellow Latvian, Ivan Sinahors.
The court heard the deceased was drinking at home with Mihails Ivors the next morning and was in good form when Mr Ivors left the house at lunchtime.
However, when a group of friends returned to the house the following day at 3pm, they found him rocking back and forth on a chair with blood on his face.
Arturis Danielus told the court that Mr Jirgens was sitting there and just kept saying yes - yes - yes to everything they said, but they thought he was just drunk. After about two hours they brought him upstairs and put him in the bath to warm him up and left him there. Mr Danielus then called the emergency services when he realised something was wrong.
Mr Jirgens was rushed to Wexford hospital and transferred to Beaumont Hospital where he died on March 11th.