Garda under intense pressure before death, inquest hears

A senior-ranking detective who died by suicide in a garda station more than six years ago was under intense pressure over his role as lead investigator into a murder which sparked the Kinahan-Hutch feud, his family have told an inquest.

Detective Superintendent Colm Fox was found dead in his office at Ballymun Garda Station on the evening of 10 February 2018 with a number of notes left for family members and his official firearm.

The death of the 56-year-old father of three from Seabury Glen, Malahide, Co Dublin occurred during a murder trial in relation to a high-profile murder at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall, Dublin on 5 February 2016.

Patrick Hutch was charged with the murder of David Byrne, a senior member of the Kinahan organised crime group, during an attack on a boxing weigh-in at the hotel.

The trial at the Special Criminal Court subsequently collapsed due to the death of Det Supt Fox.

At the opening of the inquest at Dublin District Coroner's Court, the deceased’s widow, Edel Fox, provided detailed evidence about the stress that the Regency case had caused her husband.

Ms Fox told the coroner, Myra Cullinane, that he had come under pressure at the outset of the investigation from "commissioners" to progress the case quicker.

She also recalled how her husband had remarked the week before his death on 3 February 2018 that he "may have made a mistake" in relation to the Regency investigation.

"I had no idea what it was about as he was not making sense," she added.

Amazing life together

Ms Fox said he was also "devastated" to be transferred to Ballymun in 2015 from a role with the garda fraud branch where he felt he was "making a difference".

She recounted how they first met in 1979 and had enjoyed "an amazing life together" during 28 years of marriage.

She told the coroner that he was always in good form and her only complaint was about the amount of time he spent at work.

Ms Fox said her husband had a very intensive workload while he was based earlier in his career in Blanchardstown as an inspector where he oversaw many murder investigations.

She recalled how he would leave straight away every time he received a call about a serious incident.

However, she said he loved his job and had never shown any signs of stress at the time but "in fact the opposite".

Ms Fox said they had discussed how if he went for promotion to superintendent, her husband would actually be earning less due to less overtime.

However, she said he was really happy when he was promoted and transferred to Swinford, Co Mayo where there was "a different pace of policing which was good for him".

Ms Fox said he just loved "the break from gangland crime and shootings".

'Devastated' at Ballymun transfer

Her husband was also delighted to be transferred back to Dublin for a role investigating fraud, where he spent 15 months.

She claimed he was subsequently "devastated" to be transferred to Ballymun in 2015 to oversee serious criminal investigations.

Ms Fox said she believed that "going back to such intensity" must have caused him worry.

Following the Regency shooting, she said there was a fear that everything could escalate.

She said her husband would have felt pressure as he was working very long hours and trying to get resources for his investigation including cars from another garda division.

During a short break in Kilkenny, Ms Fox said his phone never stopped ringing.

"It was the first time I ever saw Colm under pressure," she remarked.

She believed he found the high-profile nature of the Regency case "hard to deal with" and could not have come out of it "unscathed".

During the related trial, she said he became very stressed and had difficulty sleeping.

Ms Fox said her husband was concerned that two gardaí had "a hard time" giving evidence in the trial.

She was particularly worried about him on the weekend before his death when he was neither eating nor sleeping and just knew it had something to do with the trial.

'Turning point'

On the morning of his death, she said her husband had gone into his office in Ballymun early to study for a thesis, which was not unusual.

Ms Fox said she had arranged for them to go see a movie that evening in order to take his mind off the Regency case.

The inquest heard she tried calling her husband a number of times later that day but got no answer.

After returning from mass around 7pm, she was disappointed not to see his car outside their home.

Ms Fox said she was relieved when she rang Ballymun Garda station at 8.30pm and was informed that there was a light on in his office.

However, she became really worried when she had not heard from him by 10pm and learned about what happened a short time later when her brother and another garda called to her home.

In reply to questions from the coroner, Ms Fox said she believed the week before his death represented "some turning point".

Referring to 3 February 2018, she remarked: "I felt something broke in him that night."

Asked if she had any concern he might harm himself, Ms Fox replied: "Absolutely not. My biggest fear was that he was going to have a heart attack."

She said she knew there was something wrong on the morning of his death but could not put her finger on it.

Ms Fox also noted that her husband had not kissed her goodbye that day which was unusual.

"Colm was a perfectionist. It was probably weighing heavily on him if everything wasn’t going perfectly," she remarked.

Ms Fox said her husband was focused throughout his career on victims and getting justice for them. "It was hugely important to him," she added.

'Anxious, troubled and stressed'

Her brother, Fr Seán Donohoe, a Capuchin friar, told the inquest that he believed Det Supt Fox was frustrated with the support he was getting on the Regency investigation as he had admitted for the first time that he was under pressure.

In the week before his death, Fr Donohoe said he had suggested to his brother-in-law that it was time to get out of policing as Det Supt Fox had appeared "anxious, troubled and stressed".

He recalled that the deceased had remarked at the time that the Regency investigation would be "my last case".

Fr Donohoe said his brother-in-law had called him on the morning of his death for his address to send him some article of interest but now knew that was a lie.

He told the inquest that the deceased’s late father, Dessie Fox, had asked an assistant garda commissioner following the death of Det Supt Fox: "Why didn’t you mind my son?"

"It was the most profound statement I ever heard in the six-and-a-half years since he died," said Fr Donohoe.

The deceased’s sister, Gillian Fox, said her brother had texted her at 2.30pm on the day he died with the message: "Well done, Gillian."

Ms Fox said she got no reply when she asked what he had meant.

She told the inquest that she believed her brother could have done with the assistance of a detective inspector to help with his work.

'I'm so stressed'

Det Supt Fox’s eldest daughter, Rebecca, said her father’s workload was always busy and appeared massive but seemed to be "at a whole new level" with the Regency case.

She recalled how she found him up watching TV one night when he could not sleep and he remarked "I’m so stressed" but then shrugged it off.

Ms Fox expressed surprise that her father rang her on the day of his death to say how proud he was of her as it was "out of context".

She described her father’s death as "totally out of character" and expressed hope that "lessons are learned".

Her brother, David Fox, told the inquest that his father was concerned about some gardaí "getting torn apart" at the trial when there was nothing he could do about it.

His sister, Megan, gave evidence that she had moved to New York in December 2017 for work and how her parents were looking forward to visiting her the following summer.

Ms Fox said she thought her father would be the last person to do something like he had and it must have been because of "something out of the norm or significant".

Remarks of doing things differently

Sergeant Michael Ryan told the hearing that he was called by Det Supt Fox into his office on the morning of his death where they had a general conversation.

When talking about the Regency trial, Sgt Ryan said his superior had remarked that if he had to do it all again there would be some things he would do differently.

However, Sgt Ryan said Det Supt Fox did not elaborate on what he meant.

He expressed surprise at the comment as there had been an "upturn" in the trial for the prosecution which had proven "a very positive aspect" for the investigation.

Sgt Ryan agreed with Dr Cullinane that it seemed there was something still troubling the deceased even though he "would have expected the opposite".

The witness also expressed surprise to find the door to the deceased’s office open at 5.45pm that evening but did not give it much thought when he saw Det Supt Fox’s jeep was still parked outside the station.

Inspector John Collins gave evidence that Det Supt Fox had asked him to sign him out for taking a firearm that morning as he wanted to go to the garda shooting range in Tallaght.

Insp Collins said Det Supt Fox had returned after ten minutes as he had taken the wrong ammunition from the armoury.

He told the coroner that he had not asked to see the deceased’s firearm card to check that his training was up to date as he did not believe it was necessary.

Insp Collins said there was nothing unusual about Det Supt Fox’s demeanour and he had also appeared in good form when they chatted in a canteen later that afternoon.

The inquest, which is expected to last four days, will resume tomorrow morning.