George Nkencho's family say he should 'be alive today', as they mark anniversary of death

A candlelit walk is to take place later this evening in Blanchardstown village, from St Brigid’s Church to the local Garda station where speakers including George’s sister Gloria Nkencho will address those gathered.

It will mark this day last year when Mr Nkencho (27), armed with a knife and who had been involved in an earlier incident at a shop in Hartstown, was followed by gardaí to nearby Clonee.

There he was shot in his front garden after his family had pleaded he be left alone.

Gardaí said they felt threatened when he refused to put down the knife and that attempts at non-lethal methods of disarming him had failed.

The Nkencho family have said he was suffering from mental illness.

The case is still under investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc).

In a statement released before the march the family said: “What happened to George should never have happened. Whatever George did, he should be alive today.

“We are disappointed that, one year on, Gsoc has not met the deadline it held out to us of reporting on the investigation before the anniversary of George’s killing.

“From the outset, our family has called for a public inquiry that would have the transparency, resources and power to get to the truth of what happened and why George was brutally shot dead within minutes on our doorstep, rather than the talking he so clearly needed.”

The statement adds: “Furthermore, we call on the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, to publicly call on all gardai to fully cooperate with the GSOC investigation.

“This is the first black person to be killed by the gardai. How this is investigated and dealt with will set the tone for how gardai deal with vulnerable people or minorities.”