A MAN charged in connection with the death of a woman in Co Galway last month has secured a High Court order allowing a UK pathologist retained by him carry out a second postmortem on her body.
Jakub Fidler initiated High Court judicial review proceedings this week after the local coroner refused to allow the pathologist perform a postmortem on the body of Nicola Vonkova.
The injunction permitting the postmortem was granted yesterday by Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill after he was told the west Galway coroner, Dr Ciaran McLoughlin, was not opposing the application.
Mr Fidler (22), of Cartur Leathan, Inverin, Galway, was charged last week with assaulting Nicola Vonkova, causing her harm at Cartur Leathan, Inverin, on July 21st.
Ms Vonkova (19) was found in a drain near a bungalow where she had been employed as a carer and was allegedly subjected to manual strangulation which may have caused or contributed to her death.
Mr Fidler's lawyers were invited by gardaí to have an independent postmortem carried out on the body and they tried to secure an Irish pathologist but failed to do so. They eventually sourced Dr Ian Calder, who is based in the UK.
However, Olivia Traynor, solicitor for Mr Fidler, said in an affidavit that Garda Supt Noel Kelly had told her only a pathologist registered and recognised by the Irish Medical Council would be allowed carry out the postmortem.
Ms Traynor said she made contact with the council and was told it would take at least four weeks to have Dr Calder registered here.
A request to the coroner to allow Dr Calder carry out the postmortem was refused, Ms Traynor said. The Department of Justice also said it could not intervene as the coroner was exercising quasi-judicial functions.
In an effort to get an early pathology examination and minimise distress to the deceased woman's family, Ms Traynor said she tried to get other pathologists at University College Hospital Galway but they informed her they were "conflicted" because the first postmortem had been held there. She also sought the services of other patholgists in the Republic and the North without success.
It was in those circumstances the High Court action was taken. Yesterday, Mr Justice O'Neill was told that, following discussions between lawyers for Mr Fidler and the coroner, Dr McLoughlin was now not opposing the order sought.
Paul O'Higgins SC, for Mr Fidler, said the postmortem was urgent as the longer the delay, the more unsuitable the procedure became.
The refusal of the coroner to allow Dr Calder perform the postmortem breached his right to practise medicine on a temporary basis within this State as a member of the EU and was contrary to European directives on the recognition of qualifications.
Mr Fidler was entitled to have an independent examination in circumstances where pathology evidence is expected to be critical in the criminal case against him, it was claimed.
Mr Justice O'Neill granted an injunction compelling the coroner to permit Dr Calder or another suitably qualified medical person to carry out the second postmortem and returned the case for mention in October.