The mother-in-law of an armed raider gunned down by an elite garda unit in a foiled robbery tonight said he died for no reason.
Dublin men Colm Griffin (33) and Eric Hopkins (24) were shot dead in May 2005 as gardai launched a sting to thwart a €50,000 post office heist at Lusk post office in north county Dublin.
Following a week-long and often fraught inquest into the deaths, the jury found the pair were repeatedly warned to disarm before being shot. But the six men and three women declined to make any recommendations to prevent a similar incident.
Bereaved mother-in-law Ann Grimes, who reared Griffin's four children, claimed the gang could have been intercepted before the raid and accused gardai of putting innocent people in danger.
"They knew beforehand they were going to do the job. They should have stopped them," she said. "They put people in the post office at risk."
The Garda Ombudsman Commission applied in controversial circumstances to halt the inquest after the jury had begun their deliberations last Tuesday but following legal advice the Coroner refused the application.
Ombudsman Commissioner Conor Brady said he was only informed that a complaint had been received by his office over the killing of Hopkins four days into the hearing.
It had been alleged the gardai had used inappropriate lethal force in foiling the raid and the Commission decided to investigate despite not normally dealing with cases which arose prior to its inception in May this year.
The Coroner had already instructed the jury they could only return a narrative verdict, setting out the facts and removing the option of unlawful or lawful killing.
It is understood the instruction ensured the Commission's investigation could not be prejudiced. Both the Coroner's office and the Commission have committed to establishing protocols to prevent a repeat of the confusion caused by the late intervention.
The inquest heard that up to 40 gardai were involved in the operation with 25 officers on the ground in Lusk .
The third man in the gang, Gavin Farrelly, was arrested in the post office and jailed for 10 years. He claimed during the inquest that gardai knew Griffin was involved in the raid.
Detective Superintendent Dominic Hayes, a head officer in the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, received a tip-off about a planned raid by a Dublin gang in the village hours in advance.
A man fitting Griffin's description was spotted on the M1 motorway heading to Lusk on the morning of the robbery but Det Supt Hayes denied knowing if he was the man gardai were after.
The officer said he wanted to catch the gang members after they armed themselves but revealed it was not known if the gang would strike as cash was being delivered, what vehicle they would arrive in or when they would arm themselves.
Det Supt Hayes also said the raid was an inside job with someone connected to a post office employee passing on vital information to the robbers.
The foiled raid happened at 8am just after a cash delivery of around €50,000 had been made.
Two gardai had been placed inside the store and three units in cars outside to intercept the gang. The two officers inside had not been given a chance to check over the store beforehand.
The officer who pulled the trigger said he feared for his life and the lives of staff and customers.