An inquest into the death of a homeless man in Dublin has been adjourned in the hope that evidence confirming his identity can be produced at a later date.
The deceased man is believed to be 41-year-old Piotr Torng who was known by that name to homeless services and An Garda Síochána, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard on Monday.
Having spent time in the prison system, photographs matching him to that name are on record. However, in the absence of any next of kin, no one present at the inquest could confirm that Mr Torng had ever provided official documentation to back up his identity.
Laura Feehan, a team leader with the Peter McVerry Trust, said there had been a question around whether Mr Torng used his real name, but that she had never seen anything to suggest otherwise.
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Ms Feehan had interacted with Mr Torng at the 77a St Stephen’s Green hostel, where he was a resident, she said, and positively identified him at the time of his death last November.
“I wish there was someone we could have let know,” Ms Feehan said. She described Mr Torng as a “really good artist” but a “very secretive guy”, admitting that she did not know him well. He shared a room with four other men, and they looked after each other. “They were all good friends,” Ms Feehan said, and would inform staff if Mr Torng was ever unwell.
She said he was in Ireland for around 11 years, though he didn’t have much English.
RIP.ie listed Mr Torng’s address as Dublin and formerly Lithuania. Efforts were made to find any family members when he died, including Garda inquiries through Interpol, but they proved unsuccessful.
On October 30th, 2024, Mr Torng arrived at the hostel with a head injury, covered in blood. He drank a lot, and it was not unlike him to show up intoxicated having suffered an injury, although Ms Feehan said this was the worst she had seen him.
Mr Torng was kept under observation, which was normal for the service when someone is unwell, and Ms Feehan said that during that period he “wasn’t himself” and spent a lot of time in bed. She speculated that the head injury contributed to his death.
On November 8th, Mr Torng was checked into hospital. Garda Jen Woodlock, also present at the inquest, said that over the next 12 days he suffered several cardiac arrests and on November 20th, 2024, Mr Torng died.
For the next six months, his body was kept in a morgue in Dublin city. He was buried in the Alice Leahy Trust plot in Glasnevin Cemetery; a resting place primarily used for men who lived on the streets and have no one to take care of their burial when they die. The Trust organised a funeral ceremony which was attended by 10 people and lasted about 20 minutes.
The only people attending today’s inquest were Ms Feehan, Garda Woodlock, the coroner, Dr Clare Keane, and the court registrar. When it became apparent that no formal identification for Mr Torng could be produced, Dr Keane rose for several minutes to allow Garda Woodlock time to contact colleagues seeking clarification around their identification process for him.
Garda Woodlock spoke with an on-duty sergeant over the phone, but he said there was no way of clarifying if Mr Torng had ever presented documentation. On that basis, Dr Keane adjourned the inquest.
