Garda death at Dublin speed checkpoint does not warrant file for the DPP, inquest told
Seán McCárthaigh
An investigation by the Health and Safety Authority into the death of a garda while on duty at a speed checkpoint in north Dublin a year ago has concluded that the case does not warrant a file being sent to the DPP.
Garda Kevin Flatley (49) was fatally struck by a high-powered Yamaha R1 1000cc motorcycle on the R132 at Lanestown, Co Dublin, on May 11th 2025, while operating a checkpoint.
The married father of two from Moylaragh Crescent, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, who had worked as a garda for over 26 years, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, which occurred on the old Swords to Balbriggan road shortly before 1 pm.
HSA inspector, Frank Kerins, told a brief sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Wednesday that the HSA had concluded its investigation into the circumstances of Garda Flatley’s death.
Kerins told coroner Aisling Gannon that the authority had formed the view that no file on the case was required to be sent to the DPP and no further action was required on the part of the HSA.
The HSA investigation would have examined whether health and safety guidelines were followed in the operation of the checkpoint as a place of work under the relevant legislation.
However, Inspector Richard Byrne confirmed to the inquest that a Garda investigation into the death of Garda Flatley remains ongoing.
Insp Byrne applied for a six-month adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 (1) of the Coroners Act on the basis that gardaí were still awaiting a forensic collision report.
He told the coroner that any involvement of the DPP in the death of Garda Flatley was “not yet determined or defined.”
Gannon granted the application and adjourned the inquest for a further update on the Garda investigation to November 17.
At the formal opening of the inquest last November, the deceased’s wife, Úna Flatley, gave evidence of formally identifying her husband’s body to gardaí at the Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall.
The inquest heard that the results of a postmortem showed that he had died from multiple traumatic injuries from a road traffic collision with a motorcycle.
Garda Flatley, who was attached to the Roads Policing Unit at Dublin Castle, was the 90th member of An Garda Síochána to be killed in the line of duty.
Following his death, An Garda Síochána notified social media companies about content on various platforms which purported to give an eyewitness account of the fatal incident.
Gardaí said such commentary was “completely inaccurate” and had “no basis whatsoever in fact.”
They also expressed concern about the rise in the level of misinformation, disinformation and fake news and appealed to members of the public to independently verify information they were reading on social media and messaging apps.
The motorcyclist involved in the collision – Izzet Can Berber from Balgriffin, Dublin 13 – died from his injuries in the intensive care unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin on May 31, 2025.
The married father, who was born in Turkey, was in his 30s and had a son and two stepchildren.
