Inquest jury recommends garda restraint training

A verdict of death by misadventure has been recorded into the death of a Dublin man who became unresponsive after being held in a prone position on the ground by gardaí for 16 minutes.

Ronan Lawless, aged 35, an electrician and father of one of Tara Court, Balbriggan, Co Dublin died in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin on 23 November 2022 - a week after an incident outside his home.

A jury at an inquest into his death also made a number of recommendations in relation to garda training around issues of restraint and related matters.

The inquest heard gardaí had been called to the property by the deceased's mother, Phyliss Lawless, who was concerned about her son's unusual, erratic behaviour.

Pathologist Sally Anne Collis gave evidence to the inquest that a postmortem showed he died from a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen due to a cardiac arrest precipitated by "a state of agitation, a period of exertion and restraint in a prone position with cocaine intoxication".

Dr Collis said cocaine, for which Mr Lawless tested positive, was well known to cause irregular heart rhythms.

She told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner's Court that the type of altered psychological and physiological state which Mr Lawless experienced would have placed a strain on his heart and brain.

CCTV footage from a video doorbell captured the deceased jumping over a wall into a neighbour’s garden and throwing a garden bench in the direction of gardaí before being brought to the ground in a prone position at 4.08am.

It took gardaí another six minutes to place handcuffs on him as he continued to resist being restrained, while continuously roaring and shouting.

At various stages, Mr Lawless is heard to say that gardaí were hurting him and asking them to stop. On one occasion he called out: "I can't breathe. Help me."

At 4.24am Mr Lawless suddenly goes silent and becomes unresponsive. The inquest heard it was another two minutes before he was raised out of the prone position.

In a written statement, an off-duty firefighter who assisted gardaí, Seán O'Hare, said there was nothing in the garda's actions which caused him concern.

Garda Peter Gallagher gave evidence of using pepper spray on Mr Lawless after he became aggressive and threw a garden bench at gardaí.

Garda Gallagher said it forced the deceased to drop to his knees before gardaí got him onto his stomach.

The witness said he had put as little pressure as possible on Mr Lawless' shoulder blade and never directly on his back to get him to release a hand he was holding under his body.

He told coroner Myra Cullinane that they had earlier spent around 30 minutes unsuccessfully trying to get Mr Lawless into an ambulance before restraining him.

However, Garda Gallagher said the plan was changed to detain him under the Mental Health Act.

In reply to a question from the coroner, he said he had received no training on how to put handcuffs on someone resisting being restrained.

While he was aware of positional asphyxia - where the body's position prevents someone from breathing properly - and had considered it as Mr Lawless was being restrained, Garda Gallagher pointed out that the deceased had continued shouting throughout the interaction.

However, he also admitted that he thought Mr Lawless might be "deteriorating" before he became unresponsive.

Deceased was 'ticking every box' for positional asphyxia

Counsel for the Lawless family, Andrew Walker SC, said the deceased was "ticking every box" for positional asphyxia.

Another garda, Aoife Treanor, said Mr Lawless had not gone voluntarily to the ground.

In reply to various questions, Garda Treanor said she had received no training on the impact of drugs on people or about when to remove handcuffs.

She also admitted being unaware of what positional asphyxia was at the time.

A paramedic who was observing gardaí restraining Mr Lawless, Paul Lundy, said he was "well impressed" with how they had handled the situation and had no concerns about the deceased.

Mr Lawless’ brother, Darren, gave evidence of his mother asking him to come to her house as his brother was acting strange.

He said his brother seemed normal when he arrived and had denied taking drugs.

Mr Lawless said he had only returned home around 10 minutes when his mother called him to come back to the house and he could hear Ronan screaming in the background.

'Freaked out'

He told the inquest that gardaí were already there when he got back and his brother had "freaked out", claiming he could not breathe and needed fresh air.

Mr Lawless said he managed to retrieve a weight that his brother had been holding before Ronan put his hand through a Perspex screen.

He described how his brother broke away from attempts to get him into an ambulance and began running around neighbouring gardens while "roaring and shouting".

Mr Lawless recalled being informed that his brother had had a cardiac arrest and was being brought to Beaumont Hospital.

He said gardaí had been "very affable", with the first officers on the scene being "very professional and not aggressive".

He described extra gardaí and ambulances arriving at the scene as being "like a movie".

The deceased’s mother, Phyliss Lawless, said her son became agitated and upset in the early hours of 16 November 2022.

Ms Lawless told the inquest that he seemed to be paranoid as he believed somebody was outside the house.

She called gardaí after her other son, Darren, had gone home and Ronan started shouting and trying to get out a window.

She recalled her son was gasping for air and his chest was heaving before he ran out of the house.

Ms Lawless said the gardaí had definitely not been aggressive with her son.

In reply to questions from the coroner, she said her son had no background of mental health issues, although there was one previous similar experience earlier that year in June.

The inquest heard there were no criminal or disciplinary proceedings against any gardaí following an investigation into Mr Lawless's death by Fiosrú.

A jury of seven men and three women recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

They also recommended that gardaí be given scenario-based training in relation to people in a state of agitation and exertion with cocaine intoxication and being restrained.

The jury said the incident should also be used as a case study for training at the Garda College in Templemore.

Dr Cullinane said she would bring the recommendations to the attention of the relevant authorities.

Offering her condolences to Mr Lawless' family, the coroner said nothing would bring him back but expressed hope that the jury's findings would "inform the practices of An Garda Síochána in future".

In a statement following the inquest, solicitor for the Lawless family, Dermot McNamara said they recognised the importance of the jury's recommendations.

"They hope that these recommendations will lead to meaningful and practical improvements in policies, procedures and practices, with a view to preventing similar circumstances from arising in the future," Mr McNamara said.

"It is important to the family that the recommendations receive proper consideration and that there is a clear commitment and timeframe for any necessary changes," he added.