SAM SMYTH INQUEST
NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN BROUGHT TO JUSTICE FOR SHOOTING DEAD YOUNG SAM SMITH IN CRANMORE IN 2005. AT HIS INQUEST LAST WEEK HIS FAMILY AGAIN APPEALED FOR THE KILLER TO TURN THEMSELVES IN
THE mother of murdered Sligo man Sam Smith has appealed to his killer to give themselves up and own up to what they did to her son. Mary Smith was speaking after a jury at Sligo Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the death of her 23- year- old son at Carroll Drive, Cranmore, on December 30 2005.
Sam was shot twice by an unknown gunman when he answered a knock on the door around 11.15pm. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for his murder.
“I think they should give themselves up and own up to what they done to my son so my family can have some closure and get on with their lives,” said Mrs Smith as she wept outside the court last Wednesday.
“They can’t get on with their lives. We see these people every day of the week. Even myself, I see them. I’m not a violent person. I keep to myself and look after my family,” she said.
When asked if she felt she knew who was involved, Mrs Smith said “yes we do, yes.”
When asked by this newspaper if she had any message for anybody with information on her son’s killer, Mrs Smith said: “I know it’s 11 years next month. People might forget but if they do remember, then I’d like them to come forward and say something. I think there are people who lived up there who do know something.”
Another family member said that the chief suspect had many friends who “knew well who done it.”
Mary described her son as “a quiet boy” who rarely went out anywhere. “We were lucky to have a 21st birthday for him. We had to coax him out because he wasn’t outgoing – we’re not outgoing people, even myself I don’t drink or smoke. We’re all quiet. We celebrate Sam’s anniversary in the house every year. Their Dad is dead a long time,” she said.
“I want to thank all the nurses and doctors who tried to save Sam’s life,” she added.
The victim’s older brother Robert Smith, who was in the house at the time of the shooting, said the inquest didn’t make his death any easier, es-
pecially pecially in the absence of a criminalcrimina prosecution. “No, it doesn’t make it any easier at all. We had to go through grief for ten years for Sam. We still love him,” he said after the inquest, visibly upset.
Robert earlier told the jury that he was living in the same house at No. 29 Carroll Drive, Cranmore on the night in question.
He heard Sam answer a knock at the door but slam it closed again quickly “as if he got a fright” and heard three gunshots.
He ran downstairs and found his younger brother lying on the hall floor. He opened the front door but Sam told him to close it and call an ambulance. Robert hadn’t realised his brother had been shot at this point.
He told the court that Sam went upstairs to lie on a bed and then he saw blood on his arm. He asked him if he knew who was at the door but Sam said he didn’t know.
Solicitor for the Smith family, Mr Mark Mullaney, asked Robert if Sam had been shot through the front door.
“No, he was shot when the door was open,” replied Robert.
The court heard evidence that frantic calls were made to the emergency services but it was a friend of Sam’s sister Rebecca, Ms Helen Farrell, who arrived on the scene first and drove the victim to Sligo University Hospital.
In her statement, which was read out by Sgt Philip Maree, she said Sam kept saying ‘ take it easy’ and she could see a bleeding wound in his stomach as he lay in the back seat of her car. He kept falling in and out of consciousness during the short journey to the hospital.
A sister who lived nearby, Ms Margaret Smith, testified that she heard “three bangs” on the night in question. She described the scene of the shooting initially as panicked: “Everybody was stunned,” she said.
One of the first Gardaí on the scene, retired Detective Garda John Molloy told the jury that he saw two bullet holes in the front door of the house and three empty 9mm calibre shells on the ground outside. He said he was told to go to Sligo hospital as many members of Sam’s family were at A& E in a distressed state: “It was a tense situation but when I got there the family was very upset but orderly and calm,” he said.
He was present in the Operating Theatre as doctors fought in vain to save Sam’s life through the night.
Surgeon Dr Martin Caldwell told the inquest he battled to try to find the source of and stop the severe internal bleeding from the gunshot wound to Sam’s abdomen.
Despite several blood transfusions, after five and a half hours he “decided to abandon surgery” as he felt Sam was “unlikely to survive”.
Sam was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit at 6am but continued to deteriorate due to the severe blood loss. He was pronounced dead at 6.10pm on New Year’s Eve 2005.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told the inquest that death was due to the “massive internal injuries and blood loss sustained after a gunshot wound to the stomach.” A second gunshot wound to Mr Smith’s arm was a contributory factor he said.
Inspector Donal Sweeney told the inquest that five people were originally arrested on suspicion of possessing information about the offence. They were interviewed and released without charge.
“There is no likelihood of further new evidence at this juncture but the case is still open,” he said.
“No new evidence has come to light however in the event of new evidence coming to light, it will be followed up,” he added.
After ten minutes deliberation, the jury of six men and two women returned a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing in the death of Sam Smith.
Sligo Coroner Mr Eamon MacGowan said: “In the absence of a criminal trial, at least it’s some consolation. We’re used to shootings on the East Coast but this was a killing of a totally innocent man, shot down in his family’s surroundings.” On behalf of the Smith family, Mr Mullaney thanked all the medical staff for their “heroic efforts” to save Sam’s life and the Gardaí.
THERE IS NO LIKELIHOOD OF NEW EVIDENCE BUT THE CASE IS STILL OPEN