GARDAI expect to make “significant progress” in their investigation into the fatal shooting of a young man in a gangland-related incident in Dublin last year, an inquest has heard.
Joshua Itseli, 20, was shot dead while sitting in a vehicle on Knocknarea Road in Drimnagh in the early hours of May 6, 2024.
Detective Inspector Tony Collins told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday that there was an ongoing investigation into Mr Itseli’s death which he claimed was “quite extensive.”
He told the coroner, Clare Keane, that he expected significant progress would be made in the investigation over the next six months.
Det Insp Collins applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25 of the Coroners Act on the basis that criminal proceedings are being considered in the case.
Asked by the coroner if he could provide any detail about the progress of the investigation, Det Insp Collins replied that there were “a number of lines of inquiry.”
However, he explained that he did not wish to elaborate on the matter due to the ongoing investigation and its sensitive nature.
The deceased’s mother, Mado Batondoko, also gave evidence of formally identifying her son’s body to gardai at the Dublin City Mortuary in Whitehall two days after his death.
Dr Keane revealed that the results of a postmortem had confirmed that Mr Itseli had died as the result of a gunshot wound to the head.
The coroner granted the application for an adjournment of the inquest and fixed August 28 for the court to be updated on the progress of the investigation.
Following Mr Itseli’s death, it was reported that the deceased was part of a group travelling to carry out an attack on the home of rival drug dealers with a pipe bomb when they were ambushed.
However, gardaí are also trying to establish if Mr Itseli was accidentally shot by one of his associates or if he was set up by his own gang.
The deceased, who came from Blanchardstown, Dublin was travelling in a stolen vehicle which was rammed at around 12.15am before a semi-automatic AR-15 machine gun was fired up to 20 times.
The victim was known to gardáí as someone involved in the local drugs trade and was before the courts on drug-dealing charges.
He had been detained twice in the summer of 2023 for possession of crack cocaine with an estimated street value of over €30,000.
Three males who were arrested near the scene of the murder shortly after the deadly attack were questioned but later released without charge.
A firearm recovered by gardai as part of the investigation into Mr Itseli’s death as well as a number of cars seized were taken for forensic examination.
One of the three arrested who were wearing bulletproof vests, is the individual who gardaí regard as the main suspect for discharging the AR-15 weapon.
Media reports last August claimed this male had been the victim of a savage attack just weeks after he returned to Ireland from England where he had fled in the aftermath of Mr Itseli’s killing.
It is understood the suspect had become estranged from his former colleagues in a gang of young criminals in the area.
