Despite this, gardai insisted when contacted this week that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Abiola Williams, 35, on 10 October 2006. Her body was found early in the morning in the driving seat of her fire-damaged silver-coloured Nissan outside her home at Hendrick Street, off Blackhall Place, Dublin. She had lived in Ireland for eight years and ran a family-owned AfroCaribbean store on Bolton Street. She had an eight-year-old son whom gardai found asleep in her apartment. Initially gardai treated her death as suspicious but later ruled out any third-party involvement.

Williams' brother and cousin have expressed anger that they were not informed of the fact that a file was being sent to the DPP, which emerged at an inquest into her death on Monday. The family also expressed dismay that they were not informed about the inquest.

"The police never told us about the inquest.

Of course we would have wanted to attend. The police told us nothing about it and have not kept in touch with us much about Abi's death. We always have to call them, " said her cousin, Akeem Sanusi. "What does it mean that the file is with the DPP? We do not think she committed suicide. She loved her son Dami too much and she had a happy life. My brother saw her the day before it happened and she was in great form. They were having a laugh together in the shop. We believe she was murdered but have no idea why anyone would want to do that."

Abisoye Lafiagi, who lives in Britain, said he was "not happy" that gardai failed to inform him about the inquest into his sister's death. He said he would have travelled to Ireland to attend it had he been known.

On Monday, Inspector Gerry Barrett told Dublin city coroner's court that a file in relation to Williams' death "has gone to the DPP and we're awaiting instructions on that". When asked by coroner Dr Brian Farrell if the family were aware of the inquest, he said he was "not sure, unfortunately", as he was not directly involved with the case but appearing on behalf of the gardai handling it.

Detective Inspector Nicky McGrath from the Bridewell station is leading the investigation.

The inquest was adjourned for six months while the DPP considers the file.

Detective Garda Frank Tracy of the Bridewell station said "no-one is being sought and there are no suspects" in relation to Williams' death. He added that it was possible a file had been sent to the DPP because of the extensive forensic examination carried out on the burnt-out car.

"At the time of her death, there were some concerns within the Nigerian community that someone else was involved. That's very much unfounded, " he said.

McGrath was unavailable to comment on why gardai failed to inform the family of the inquest.

According to Sinead Conneely, legal expert at Waterford Institute of Technology, the role of the DPP is to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought. "As far as I'm aware, a Garda file would only be sent to the DPP if criminal proceedings are expected to arise from it."