Fish freezer with corpse 'passed 20 inspections'

The Irish Times - Friday, November 27, 2009

JOHN FALLON

HEALTH INSPECTORS and Department of Marine officials carried out up to 20 routine inspections of a large fish shop freezer but failed to notice a man’s body hidden there for five years.

The body of 52-year-old Patrick McCormack was hidden in a bin in the walk-in freezer at the back of a fish shop in Galway after he was killed by a criminal associate.

The body was discovered in June 2007 when the fish shop owner went to tidy the large freezer ahead of an inspection by the Department of the Marine.

A 45-year-old Galway man, Edward Griffin, from Cimín Mór, Cappagh Road, Knocknacarra, is serving eight years for the manslaughter of McCormack. Griffin, who worked in the fish shop for several years, left a few months before the body was discovered.

The Central Criminal Court heard this year that Griffin and McCormack were in the drugs business but had a row which led to Griffin killing McCormack with a wheel brace.

The court was told that McCormack was formerly known as Patrick Wynne but had changed his name by deed poll in 1995.

A coroner’s court hearing in Galway was told yesterday by a brother of the deceased that the man who died also used the name Richard McCormack.

Christy McCormack asked west Galway coroner Dr Ciaran McLoughlin to include the alias Richard McCormack on the death certificate. He said his late brother had taken out a loan along with his mother for £56,000 some years ago and that a bank was insisting that another brother repay it.

Dr McLoughlin said that he could only include the two names on the certificate for which there was proof. He suggested that Mr McCormack go to the solicitor who had arranged the deed poll for the deceased man and take the trail from there. The deceased man’s brother said he was very unhappy with this and left before the inquest was concluded.

Ali Jalilvand, owner of the Mermaid Fishmongers at Henry Street, told the inquest how he had discovered Mr McCormack’s body when he went to carry out a routine inspection. Mr Jalilvand, an Iranian, who has lived in Ireland for the past 30 years, said he became sick when he discovered the body hidden in a bin underneath boxes of frozen fish.

He said that the freezer was a large walk-in room and, questioned by Dr McLoughlin, estimated that health and marine officials had carried out 15 to 20 inspections of the freezer during the time the body was there.

The time of McCormack’s death was between June 9th and September 30th in 2002.

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis said that it had taken several days for the body to thaw before he could carry out a postmortem. McCormack’s hands had been tied and he had visible injuries. He had 40 injuries, 17 of which were to the head, with three being fractures. Cause of death was given as blunt force trauma to the head and face.