Gardaí suspect that a man who died in custody over the weekend might have swallowed drugs beforehand.
Lee McDonnell was from Ballyfermot, 34 years old and a man with a long history of criminal offending.
On Saturday afternoon, he was arrested on the foot of an outstanding Garda warrant and taken into custody.
His arrest involved not just local Gardaí, but support from the Armed Support Unit (ASU), the Public Order Unit and the Garda Air Support Unit.
However, once in Garda custody, McDonnell fell ill and died.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Robin Schiller of the Irish Independent described him as an “extremely violent criminal”.
“Now, despite the best efforts of Gardaí and emergency responders, he was pronounced dead a short time later,” Mr Schiller explained.
“Now, indications are that immediately before being arrested, Lee McDonnell ingested a large quantity of drugs in order to secrete them before being taken into custody and that this could have had a significant impact on his health and led to his death.”
McDonnell’s body has been sent for a post-mortem examination and because his death occurred in Garda custody, the case has been referred to Fiosrú – the Office of the Police Ombudsman.
His death also complicates Garda investigations into two serious assaults in the capital.
“[McDonnell] had racked up in excess of 130 previous convictions for numerous offences, aggravated burglary, robbery and machete attack for a serious assault,” Mr Schiller said.
“His most recent run-in with the law came, Gardaí believe, last weekend; Thomas Griffin, a 31 year old man from Ballyfermot, was attacked near the War Memorial Garden Island Bridge.
“He attempted to flee for his life by swimming across the River Liffey to the Chapelizod roadside.
“Unfortunately, he was found unresponsive there and died a short time later.
“Gardaí certainly believe that Lee McDonnell was the individual who slashed Mr Griffin immediately before he entered the river.”
Funeral arrangements for McDonnell have not yet been made public.
Main image: Lee McDonnell.
