Charleton Tribunal: Chilling picture of what can happen after child-related claims

The Disclosure Tribunal got straight down to business yesterday at 10.06am.

By the standards of these affairs it took off at lightning speed, examining whether Sergeant Maurice McCabe was subjected to a blackening of his character because he complained of malpractice in An Garda Siochana.

The starting point for the inquiry concerns a distasteful allegation from 2006 against McCabe of inappropriately touching a young girl. This occurred when McCabe was sergeant-in-charge of Bailieborough station in Co Cavan, at a time when, it has since emerged, there were serious problems with policing in the district. The allegation came from the daughter of a colleague.