THE family of Terence Wheelock have released photos of injuries he is believed to have suffered in garda custody as they called for a public inquiry into his death.

Gardaí have repeatedly said that Wheelock left Store Street garda station without any physical injuries apart from a ligature wound to his neck.

However, the photos – taken by a clinical photographer at the Mater Hospital – show significant bruising to his legs and back as well as badly cut hands.

A garda statement at the time said: "Some media reports refer to extensive bruising on Terence's body. The gardaí see no reason for this nor were they noticed by the gardaí or Dublin Fire Brigade personnel who attended the incident."

The photographs also show a mysterious wound to his back that was not explained in a report by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission report into his death, which was published last week. The report vindicated gardaí.

The family of Wheelock now plan to take their case to Europe but have repeated their call for justice minister Dermot Ahern to launch a public inquiry.

They questioned why the Garda Ombudsman had not published the photographs of Terence's injuries as part of the report.

Larry Wheelock, Terence's brother, said: "I cannot understand how it took three years to carry out this report, which has the same findings as an inquest into his death, which took a week."