The mother of George Nkencho has told the opening day of an inquest into the death of her son that he had "never been the same" after he was involved in a car accident with a friend in 2014.
Mr Nkencho, 27, suffered fatal gunshot wounds during an incident involving members of the Garda Armed Support Unit outside his family home at Manorfields Drive, Clonee, Co Dublin, on 30 December 2020.
Blessing Nkencho said in a statement read out to Dublin District Coroner's Court this morning that she did not notice anything out of the ordinary in the weeks leading up to his death and that she still feels like her son is going to come back.
In recalling her memories of her son, Ms Nkencho told Chief Coroner Myra Cullinane that her son had tended to spend a lot of time on his own since the accident and that he suffered from depression and had problems sleeping.
The coroner's court heard that Mr Nkencho got a job coaching football after he left secondary school and had spent time working as a coach in Scotland.
Asked by senior counsel for An Garda Síochána Ronan Kennedy if he was having problems with his mental health, his mother said that he was increasingly self-isolating at home and was often talking to himself.
The shooting occurred after a stand-off developed between gardaí and Mr Nkencho, who was armed with a kitchen knife.
The tense situation arose shortly after Mr Nkencho had been involved in an alleged assault of a shop assistant at a nearby Eurospar store.
Staff left 'terrified' by chaos on shop floor
The coroners court heard how earlier that same day, Mr Nkencho had assaulted a shop worker, in an unprovoked attack, at a nearby supermarket.
Staff from the Eurospar in Hartstown said they were were left ''terrified'' by the chaos that had occurred on the shop floor.
They recalled that Mr Nkencho was a regular customer and that they never had any issues with him in the past.
Eurospar Hartstwon Supervisor, Erinda Cerepi, who had worked there for over a decade, said Mr Nkencho was normally ''quiet and friendly and never aggressive before this''.
However, on the day several staff said that he appeared to be very agitated, had ''wild'' and ''glazed-over'' eyes with some characterising the deceased as being ''angry'' and ''scary looking''.
Margaret Armstrong was working in the off-licence and saw Mr Nkencho strike store manager Wayne Swords "so hard you could almost feel it".
A statement by Mr Swords was read out to the court as he was not present.
Mr Swords said he was approached by Mr Nkencho from behind and was punched in the face and that he fell backwards onto the shop floor.
He was left with a broken nose and a broken tooth.
When he saw Mr Nkencho pull out what appeared to be a steak knife he said he was was ''terrified and feared for his life".
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Mr Swords added that he had never seen such anger in a person before and was left ''very shook up''.
Ms Cerepi, recalled how the incident unfolded very quickly and that the ''punches came out of nowhere''.
She said she ordered Mr Nkencho to leave and that he used expletives as he left the supermarket, recalling that she had burst out crying after he had left.
CCTV from the shopfloor of the incident was played to the jury.
His family have said that Mr Nkencho was suffering from mental health issues prior to his death and that the level of force used against him by gardaí was disproportionate.
Fiosrú - the Office of the Police Ombudsman - will give evidence at a later stage of the inquest.
Post-mortem examination results revealed Mr Nkencho died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.
His family claims he was suffering from mental health issues for several months before his death and that the level of force used against him by gardaí was disproportionate.
