Detective Superintendent Colm Fox died at Ballymun Garda station on Saturday 10 February 2018. At the conclusion of the recent four-day inquest Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said it was tragic that a man, who had been described as a perfectionist, appeared to have perceived an aspect of his work as a catastrophe, such that he felt he should take his own life.
The Coroner acknowledged the current mental health supports which are offered in An Garda Síochána, and said she endorsed the full implementation of a “mental health first aid kit” within the force.
The inquest was told on behalf of Commissioner Drew Harris that “Colm was deeply missed by all his colleagues and friends in the force,” and he offered his sincere condolences to the Fox family.
Now Colm Fox’s family sat down with RTÉ Prime Time Security Correspondent Barry Cummins to speak about their husband and father.
For organisations that may provide help in relation to issues raised in this article check rte.ie/helplines
“He was a guard, but he was so much more, you always felt safe when he was around. And he would do anything for anyone.”
Colm Fox’s eldest daughter Rebecca says the family are very proud of the man who led so many high-profile criminal investigations during a lengthy career, but who first and foremost was a Dad and husband.
“He was always just fun growing up,” says her sister Megan. “I think we are very lucky that we just have just have really fond memories of him.”
Megan is the youngest of three. All young adults when their father took his own life at Ballymun Garda station in February 2018. Rebecca, Megan and their brother David all spoke with me, along with their mother Edel for a special report on Thursday’s Prime Time programme.
Watch: Family members speak about Detective Superintendent Colm Fox
We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Colm Fox joined An Garda Síochána in the early 1980s and spent much of his career in Dublin. He started in Finglas, and then headed south of the river Liffey to Sundrive Road. He was in plain-clothes in the local drugs unit, and indeed would spend much of subsequent career out of uniform, working as a detective. His first posting as a senior detective was to Blanchardstown.
I personally came to know Colm Fox during the mid-2000s, interviewing him for RTÉ News about many investigations. He was a Garda who recognised the power of publicity in advancing appeals for information. He also struck me as someone who had a particular caring nature for the victims of crime. On one occasion he set up a fund for the family of a man left brain damaged in a random attack.
“No matter who the victim was, whether it was like an older lady whose house got robbed, or serious gangland crimes, he always just wanted justice for the victims regardless of who they were,” said Megan.
The demands of a busy job were familiar to the Fox family for many years. Colm Fox was a senior detective whose phone would ring at any time of day or, quite often, night – with calls coming to alert him to murders and other very serious crimes in Dublin. But he also was very involved with his family and local community in Malahide where he and Edel had settled and raised their children.
“He was my football manager,” recalled David. “Two training sessions a week and a match on Sunday morning. He was there week in, week out, regardless of what was going on in the job.”
But David also remembers that sometimes the job would come calling for his Dad.
“I remember I’d be playing and he’d look over and he’d be on the phone running up the sideline heading for the car and he’d be getting pulled into work, you know, and one of the other parents would have to bring me home. Like that’s how dedicated he was to the job, you know?”
Edel Fox knows what it’s like to be married to a busy detective. She lived that life with Colm.
“With those investigations, it’s not a nine-to-five job. You’re working day and night. And he would always say, you know, especially the beginning of a murder investigation, you really, those first 48 hours are the most important.”
In February 2016 Colm Fox was made the senior investigating officer of the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.
The daylight murder of a member of the Kinahan Organised Crime group while he was attending a boxing weigh-in event shocked the nation.
The murder by the Hutch Organised Crime group, including some members who dressed themselves to look like armed Gardaí, was a blatant attack on the rule of law.
The recent inquest at Dublin Coroners Court into the death of Colm Fox heard how the Detective Superintendent would later work without a Detective Inspector, as a position was not replaced when one Garda retired. As well as the Regency investigation Colm Fox was in charge of a number of other investigations, including a double murder of a man and woman in August 2017.
Edel Fox told me that Colm had previously dealt with many serious criminal investigations and significant workloads, but that the Regency investigation was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.
She remembers one time in April 2016, two months after the murder of David Byrne, when she took Colm away for a break to Kilkenny, but he ended up spending a lot of time on work calls.
“He was a long time on the phone, I said, oh, what’s that about? He was trying to retain cars that he borrowed from a different district.”
Colm Fox did not have any history of depression. In a period of time before he took his own life, he was not sleeping. He spoke of feeling significant stress.
“I thought he was going to have a heart attack,” said Edel.
Colm Fox left a number of letters, some personal ones for family, and also one letter which was addressed to a fellow Superintendent.
That letter was read into the record at the recent inquest and referenced an ‘omission’ which Colm Fox said he had made early on in the Regency investigation. The detail of the note outlined the detective felt others mightn’t see the issue as serious.
Despite enquiries by An Garda Síochána, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, the Health and Safety Authority, and the Dublin Coroner, no omission has been identified in the Regency case. And the Fox family have no idea what Colm was referring to.
“The week before he passed, it was as if his mind had broken. It was like a turning point,” said Edel. “And I can just imagine maybe everything was just whirling around in his head… Maybe it was something small, but because of his state of mind, it became really big in his head. But we actually don’t know what it is.”
The recent inquest heard detail of the current Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) policy document and the current Garda practice of assessing the workload of each SIO across the country before assigning any further cases.
Garda confidential support initiatives include a ‘KOPS Wellbeing App’ which is installed on all Garda phones which provides for a 24/7 365 Counselling Service.
The Coroner was also told about a project designed to see Garda personnel complete a Mental Health First Aid Ireland training course in coming years. Dr Cullinane recommended that such initiatives already in place continue to be rolled out.
David Fox read a family statement to media at the conclusion of the inquest, where he said he hoped the Coroner’s recommendations would be implemented.
The Fox family have now spoken to RTÉ in their only full interview to raise awareness of issues which presented in the case of their loved one.
“Something like this just happens overnight. There’s no roadmap for these situations,” said Edel. “We still have to come home to a house without Colm. That’s the sad bit. But if anything can help this not happening to someone else again, whatever we could do, whatever we can do to stop that happening again.”
The interview with Edel, Rebecca, David and Megan Fox, by reporter Barry Cummins and producer Brídóg NíBhuachalla, is broadcast on the 5 December edition of Prime Time at 9.35pm on RTE One television.
For organisations that may provide help in relation to issues raised in this article check rte.ie/helplines
