George Nkencho continued to ‘swing wildly with knife’ after being shot – inquest

George Nkencho was still “swinging wildly” with a knife at armed gardai as he was being shot, an inquest has heard.

A sergeant said that a few minutes beforehand he had tried to engage “softly” with Mr Nkencho, but he lunged at him with a knife and left him “in no doubt” that he would “stab and kill me” if he got too close.

Two sisters of George Nkencho also addressed the inquest on Tuesday and described seeing their brother lying outside the front of their home after being tasered.

Gloria Nkencho said she opened the front door of the house and told gardai that he was her brother and he had mental health difficulties.

Mr Nkencho, 27, died outside his home in west Dublin in December 2020 after being shot multiple times by the Garda armed support unit.

The incident was the subject of an independent criminal investigation by the then Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), now Fiosru, which concluded in June 2023 with the submission of an investigative file to the director of public prosecutions.

A decision was made not to pursue any criminal prosecution in relation to the shooting.

An inquest into his death began last week at Dublin District Coroner’s Court.

The inquest has heard from shop workers and customers who described seeing Mr Nkencho punch an assistant manager at a Eurospar in Hartstown, and members of the public who said they saw him holding a knife, as well as Garda dispatchers who described how units were deployed to the scene.

The inquest’s jury also saw video footage taken by a passer-by who was walking his dog as the scene unfolded in the estate.

On Tuesday, Garda Sergeant Peter Nestor and Garda Shane Gallagher described responding to the incident in the shop.

Mr Nestor said that he became aware of the incident at the shop through the Tetra radio station while at Blanchardstown Garda Station earlier that day.

He headed out in a Garda car with Mr Gallagher and alighted at Cherryfield Park after seeing a man matching the description of witnesses.

Mr Nestor said he saw Mr Nkencho’s hand was in his pocket and he was satisfied he had a knife based on information and his experience.

He said he put a baton to his shoulder, engaged with him “softly” and asked him to put down the knife.

He said Mr Nkencho said things like “go back to the shop”, and they asked him to tell them about that but he “did not engage”.

He said Mr Nkencho pulled the knife out of his pocket and did not comply with directions to drop the knife.

“He appeared to be very angry and was very aggressive,” he said, adding that he did not make an assessment on his mental health.

“I repeated my demand to put the knife down, and he refused and lunged towards me with a knife,” he said in his deposition.

“I was in no doubt at this time that if I got any closer to this male, that he would stab and kill me.”

He said they let him pass them and they got back into the car and followed him at a safe distance, where they repeatedly shouted to members of the public to get out of the way.

He said he did not remember hearing over the Tetra radio that Mr Nkencho had mental health issues, adding that his radio was set to a channel for a different operation.

“I didn’t hear that, no,” he told the inquest.

He said as they arrived at Manorfields Drive, he did not know it was Mr Nkencho’s home.

He said the ASU had just arrived at the scene and procedure was that the ASU “take over” and other gardai “get out of their way”.

He said the two ASU members asked Mr Nkencho to “stop” and “drop the knife”, and a short time later “taser, taser”.

He said Mr Nkencho was “swinging wildly at them” and even after being tasered, Mr Nkencho got up and continued “swinging very wildly at the two members”.

He said he got the impression he then swung and “connected” with an ASU member “above the knee” as he was getting up.

He said he heard someone say “spray, spray, spray”, which indicates pepper spray, but he did not see it being deployed as he was directing people who had appeared in the front door to “stay back”.

“I’m roaring at them ‘close the door, close the door, get back inside, it’s not safe’,” he told the inquest.

He said he thinks they said something but said several people were shouting at the time so he could not hear.

He said Mr Nkencho continued to swing and then he heard shots fired.

“A number of shots fired, pauses in between each one. He’s still swinging wildly at them (and) didn’t fall at all, not until the last one,” he told the inquest.

“I presumed that they were shooting with beanbags or rubber bullets, or whatever, because it didn’t look like he was being shot. He was still coming heavy and swinging wild.”

Asked by the coroner Dr Myra Cullinane if he had seen someone shot before, he said no but that he had received firearms training, where they were told that someone “can keep coming” if they are shot.

Asked by the coroner what they are told to do in response, he said: “Stop the threat.”

Asked if that means shoot again, he said: “Yeah, until the threat has stopped.”

Garda Shane Gallagher said he was “terrified” and “in fear” for his own safety and the safety of members of the public when he saw the knife in Mr Nkencho’s hand.

“He then started pacing toward me, and I was in no doubt that his intention was to try and stab me,” he said in his deposition.

“It will stick with me forever the way he was squeezing that knife,” he told the inquest.

He said he cannot remember which ASU member used the taser and that orders from the ASU to Mr Nkencho to drop the knife was “continuous”.

Mr Nkencho’s sisters Grateful and Gloria also described to the inquest efforts to tell gardai that their brother had mental health difficulties.

Grateful said her sister Gloria said “very loud” to gardai that this was her brother and he had an illness.

“She kept saying ‘This is my brother, he’s sick, he has mental health issues’, but even as she was saying that, she was brushed away. Like, nobody really paid attention to what she was saying.”

Gloria told the inquest that she told gardai “it’s my brother, he is sick” before being “ushered” back into the house by gardai.

She also said before this she saw a garda “forcefully” kick George in the back and said she heard no verbal efforts by gardai to de-escalate the situation.

The inquest is due to continue before a jury on Wednesday.