THE INITIAL post-mortem results on the body of Patrick Halpin have failed to find the cause of the teenager’s death.
Police confirmed that the examination took place on Tuesday, as the 18-year-old’s body was returned to his parents for burial in their native Galway this weekend.
But they were told they will have to wait for the results of further tests before they know what happened to their son in his final moments.
Patrick was found dead in central London last week after a suspected fall from a roof in Leicester Square.
The Halpin family remained in London to remember Patrick at a special memorial mass yesterday evening.
Around 200 people turned out at Kilburn’s Sacred Heart of Jesus Church to support his mum, Elsie, father, Paddy, and sister, Regina.
Included among the mourners were a large number of the family’s’ Britain-based relatives.
Reading out a touching tribute, Patrick’s uncle John O’Connor gave “a glimpse of the talented young lad he was”.
Mr O’Connor, who lives in Luton and chairs the Leagrave Comhaltas group, described Patrick as “an all-rounder” who excelled in academics, theatre, singing and volleyball.
“He played hurling for the local GAA club Kilnadeema-Leitrim and played Gaelic football for his local town of Loughrea,” Mr O’Connor added.
“He was due to play for his club minor team in Croke Park on Saturday. As you all know it is every young lads dream to walk out on that pitch in your club colours.”
Another uncle, London-based Michael O’Connor, then thanked everyone who gave the family “incredible” support while he was missing and after the discovery of his body
“This week has put a new meaning to the phrase ‘there are no strangers here, only friends we have not yet met’,” he said.
Patrick, who was in London on a university society trip, was last seen leaving a nightclub in Leicester Square in the early hours of Wednesday, February 5.
His body was found just metres from where he disappeared, more than 30 hours after he was reported missing.
The grim discovery came two hours after an “information mix-up” that led his family to be falsely informed that he had been located safe and well 27 miles away in Gatwick Airport.
As his parents returned to Galway today, it remained unclear why an immediate search of where their son was last seen on CCTV did not lead police to recover his body sooner.
Patrick’s sister said the family also has unanswered questions about how Patrick, an actuary student at Dublin City University, got onto the roof from which he is believed to have fallen to his death.
“We don’t know how he got up on that roof or anything like that, we just know that’s where he was,” she told The Irish Post.
Referring to the mystery surrounding the cause of her brother’s death and how he ended up on a roof, Miss Halpin said it was “absolutely devastating” not knowing what happened in his final moments.
A funeral mass will be held for Patrick at St Brendan’s Cathedral in Loughrea on Sunday at 2:30pm. He will then be buried at Kilnadeema Cemetery.
