Gardai failed to respond to 999 call due to radio problem

A man was fatally injured when struck by a van while crossing the N7 in south-west Dublin around 45 minutes after gardaí had been warned about a pedestrian posing a traffic hazard in the area, an inquest has heard, reports Sean McCarthaigh.

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard gardaí had failed to respond to a 999 call from a taxi driver about a pedestrian on the slip road to the N7 at Rathcoole, Co Dublin due to a problem with a radio in a patrol car that was being dispatched to investigate the report.

Padraic Ryan (43), a father of three from Rokeby Park, Lucan, died instantly from injuries sustained when he was hit by a Renault Traffic van in the middle lane of the citybound side of the N7 near the junction at Kingswood, Tallaght at around 4.15am on September 30, 2018.

An inquest on Monday heard that the Garda Command and Control Centre had made three unsuccessful attempts at 3.29am to alert a patrol car attached to Rathcoole garda station about a pedestrian on the carriageway.

Garda Peter Wallace, who was in the patrol car, said he only became aware of the reports about the pedestrian when he returned to the garda station in Rathcoole at 4.13am.

Garda Wallace said it was only then that he realised that the radio in the patrol car had switched itself off at some stage.

He told the coroner, Aisling Gannon, that the radio had been working at 3am.

Garda Wallace said the patrol car had travelled southbound along the N7 to Rathcoole from the Naas Road at around 4am and there was no sighting of any pedestrian.

While the patrol car was later returning back towards Dublin on the N7 to attend another incident, Garda Wallace said he was alerted to the collision involving Mr Ryan.

Under questioning by the coroner, Garda Wallace said he could not explain how the patrol car’s radio had turned itself off.

“It made no sense,” he remarked.

Garda Wallace said it was impossible that he could have turned it off inadvertently as the off button needed to be depressed for three seconds.

He reported the fault with the radio later that morning but was unaware what was the problem with the equipment.

Garda Wallace also confirmed that other patrol cars would have heard the alert about the pedestrian on the N7 and would have been aware his vehicle had not been contactable.

The inquest heard, however, that the Control and Command Centre did not ask other patrol cars to respond to the incident.

An automatic notice was sent to Rathcoole garda station when the patrol car could not be reached but the coroner was informed that Rathcoole garda station closed at 6pm and the incident was not escalated.

Garda Wallace told counsel for An Garda Síochána, Hugh McDowell BL, that it would be normal for a patrol car not to be contactable if gardaí had stepped out of a vehicle.

Counsel for Mr Ryan’s family, Cathal Murphy BL, said the evidence about the failure to respond to the 999 call was “troubling” and highlighted “a flaw” in the Garda communications system

Garda Danielle O’Sullivan said Mr Ryan had been socialising with friends in the Poitín Still pub in Rathcoole and appeared to walk along the N7 after failing to hail a taxi.

The inquest heard various pieces of CCTV and dashcam footage showed the deceased had crossed the six-lane carriageway a number of times on the 5km stretch of the N7 between the junctions at Rathcoole and Kingswood over two hours.

CCTV footage showed him stopping at a Circle K station on the N7 at Rathcoole at 2.52am after walking across three lanes of the carriageway.

A post-mortem report showed Mr Ryan had almost five times the legal drink-driving level of alcohol in his blood.

The inquest heard the Renault Traffic van was in good roadworthy condition while its driver had passed a breathalyser test and records showed he was not using his mobile phone at the time of the fatal crash.

A Garda forensic collision investigator, Sergeant Paul Carney, said he concluded that Mr Ryan was struck by the right side of the van as he was coming from the direction of the median of the N7.

He estimated that the driver of the van was travelling between 77 and 94km/h at the point of collision on a stretch of road where the speed limit was 100km/h.

A Garda telecommunications technician, Sergeant Paul McLoughlin, said there could be “100-plus” reasons why the radio in the patrol car was not working.

Sgt McLoughlin said a Garda radio would automatically turn off after around 10 minutes if the engine of a patrol car had been stopped and that was “a common issue.”

However, the coroner remarked that such an observation was “out of kilter” with the evidence of Garda Wallace, who was surprised by what happened the radio.

Ms Gannon also pointed out that the patrol car was in use at the time that the radio switched itself off.

Sgt McLoughlin said he was unaware if Garda management had issued any circular about radios being turned off automatically and needing to be manually turned back on.

Detective Superintendent Thelma Watters informed the inquest that the radio had been serviced and replaced but said no records could be found to explain what the problem with the equipment was.

The coroner noted that Mr Ryan had died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries from the collision with the van.

Based on the evidence, Ms Gannon returned a narrative verdict.

The coroner said she did not believe a recommendation was appropriate as suggested by Mr Murphy as it had not been established what was the exact issue with the radio.

However, she said she would notify Garda management about concerns raised in the ­case.