Gardaí are to review possible new information on the death of a man in Co Offaly almost five years ago after his family and friends expressed reservations about the original Garda inquiry.
The family of Shane Tuohey, Rahan, Co Offaly, has also produced reports from two American pathologists which state the death of the 23-year-old was probably a homicide and not a suicide, as had always been believed.
A spokesman for Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy last night said an item on the case by RTÉ's investigative unit, broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday, would be examined to see if it contained any new evidence "that would warrant further lines of inquiry".
The dead man went missing on February 2nd, 2002 after a night out socialising in Clara, Co Offaly. His body was found in the nearby river Brosna a week later.
The then state pathologist Prof John Harbison carried out a post- mortem and concluded the victim had died from drowning. Foul play was not suspected.
However, members of the dead man's family and other people known to him yesterday expressed reservations about the Garda's investigation.
The dead man's father, Éamon Tuohey, claims he was told that on the night his son went missing he was assaulted. He says a number of men were at the scene of the assault and that these men had been harassing his son in the period before he died.
Mr Tuohey said one of the group told him his son was hit on the head by an opening car door as he bent down to look into a vehicle during the altercation in Clara. Mr Tuohey has alleged he informed gardaí of this, but it was never investigated.
It was also claimed gardaí never reviewed CCTV footage shot in Clara on the night the man was last seen alive. The family also claims the scene at the riverbank where his body was found was not preserved for examination.
They have questioned a statement after Mr Tuohey's death taken from a Co Offaly woman who claimed to have been in a relationship with the dead man. The family say that in the statement the woman claims Mr Tuohey very regularly spoke about taking his own life.
However, the family say the woman was never in a relationship with Mr Tuohey. They further allege the statement was never signed and that it has now been retracted.
Two American pathologists the Tuoheys hired to carry out an independent inquiry both concluded that the case should have been treated as a homicide.
The pathologists are Dr Kim Collins, forensic pathologist at the Medical University of South Carolina and Prof Greg Davis, state medical examiner for Kentucky. Neither has completely ruled out Prof Harbison's findings that Mr Tuohey drowned. However, they both say Mr Tuohey's brain was swollen and heavy, indicating head trauma and probable homicide.
In a statement last night the spokesman for Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said the postmortem concluded he had drowned and that had not been assaulted. He said an inquest delivered a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.
The spokesman added that following representations from the Tuohey family Mr Conroy had already ordered an examination of the initial investigation.
This review concluded some aspects of the investigation could have been carried out in a more professional manner.
