Man's shooting dead on his own doorstep in Cork 'was a hit', inquest told

A verdict of unlawful death has been recorded in the case of a man whose doorstep execution in Cork more than a decade ago bore all the hallmarks of ‘a hit’.

The verdict that was returned followed an inquest into the death of Darren (Dearon) Falsey, aged 37, who was gunned down in the hallway of his home in Carrigaline in 2011.

Despite a major garda investigation and several arrests, and the recovery in woodland several months later of the handgun used in the attack, no-one has been charged with the killing.

Coroner for south and west Cork, Frank O’Connell, was told that Mr Falsey was at home alone in the Ashbourne Court estate on the afternoon of August 3, 2011.

In a statement read into the record, his partner, Lorraine Conroy, who could not attend the inquest, said she returned to the house with her son, her cousin and her child, at around 2.40pm to collect circus vouchers and noticed the sliding door of the house was open.

She said she opened the front door to find Mr Falsey lying face down in the hallway in a pool of blood. 

She ran next door in a panic and used a neighbour’s phone to call emergency services and arranged a taxi to take her cousin and the children away.

She went back to her house, with a 999 operator still on the phone, but said she was too scared to touch her partner and perform CPR. She said she saw two bullet casings — on the floor and one on the stairs.

“I don’t remember much after that,” she said.

Inspector Martin Canny of Togher Garda Station said gardaí arrived at the scene quickly and when they established there were no signs of life in Mr Falsey, the scene was sealed off. Death was formally pronounced at 3.35pm.

A full murder investigation was launched and five discharged bullet casings were recovered from the hallway.

Assistant state pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster, said her autopsy revealed traces of cocaine and cannabis in Mr Falsey's system, and confirmed he had suffered several gunshot wounds — four to the face, one to the left shoulder, one to the left side of the chest, and one to the back of the head.

The injuries were consistent with him being shot in the face first, that the wound to his left arm was most likely a defensive injury as he was collapsing, before being shot in the back of the head. 

The gunshot wound to his chest went through his aorta and would have been “immediately fatal”, she said.

The cause of death was hemorrhage, bleeding and shock due to laceration of the aorta following a gunshot wound to the thorax, associated with cerebral trauma due to gunshot wounds.

Five people were arrested for questioning in connection with the murder, but Insp Canny confirmed that, to date, there has been no prosecution.

The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing before Mr O’Connell offered his sympathies to members of the Falsey family.

“In this case, this was a hit,” he said. “There can be no justification for it, no matter what justification might be put forward.” He also expressed the hope that those responsible will be brought to justice. 

Mr Falsey was suspected of involvement in the drugs trade.