The men who stole from the body of a dead man on a Dublin bus were captured on CCTV and will pay for their dreadful crime, said the dead man's mother today.

"Gardai told me they have them on film in the bus. Now I just want them brought to justice," said Kathleen Grendon (66).

Her son Jason (38) died while sitting in the backseat on the upper deck of the 78A bus.

When the alarm was raised and the bus driver and passengers waited for an ambulance crew to arrive to remove his body, two men boarded the bus and stole a gold chain from around the dead man's neck.

The thieves also stole a mobile telephone from the dead man and left the scene before gardai arrived.

Mrs Grendon, who lives at Muskerry Road in Ballyfermot, said: "I know who did it. There are a lot of people who would like to hurt them for what they did but I just want them to come clean and let the guards handle it."

The 'mugging of a dead man' has caused widespread revulsion as gardai continue their investigation into the crime that happened in daylight on May 10 last as the bus was stationary on Coldcut Road.

Gardai confirmed to Dublin City Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty at an inquest this week that they knew the identities of the two suspects and were continuing to work on the case.

Mrs Grendon condemned the thieves. She said: "They were cowards, without a living doubt.

"They knew Jason and they would never have stolen his gold chain if he was alive. Jason was a big lad and knew how to handle himself."

She said her son had even introduced one of the men to her some time before his death.