Massive warrant backlog hampers gardaí

THE WARRANT for the chief suspect in the murder of Donna Cleary was just one of 2,000 outstanding in Blanchardstown and Finglas alone, it has emerged.

Gardaí last night arrested a sixth person in connection with the shooting of the mother of one, who was gunned down at a birthday party last Sunday morning.

A man in his 20s presented himself at Coolock Garda Station and is detained there under section 30 of The Offences against The State Act.

There was an outstanding warrant for 24-year-old Dwayne Foster, who gardaí believe fired the shots on the night Ms Cleary was killed. As the Government continued to defend its record on crime in the wake of this latest murder, gardaí said there are not enough officers to enforce the sheer number of warrants.

Gardaí claim that because the force was “starved of resources”, the execution of bench warrants was likely to be down the priority list.

The Garda Representative Association also criticised the judiciary, claming there would be far less warrants if judges did not grant bail so often, particularly in cases where gardaí have objected.

It emerged earlier this week that there was a bench warrant out for the arrest of Dwayne Foster, who gardaí believe indiscriminately fired five shots into the house in Coolock, north Dublin, after he and a number of others were refused entry to a party.

A court order for his committal to prison was also being drafted after he failed to appear for his appeal to a three-month sentence for motoring offences last February.

“We have to hold our hands up, we haven’t been able to execute warrants because of the huge amount of them,” said one garda source. It’s understood there are around 1,200 outstanding warrants in Blanchardstown, and 700 in Finglas, where Foster is from.

The outstanding 2,000 warrants consist of:

* Bench warrants, where people are arrested for failing to answer bail or attend court.

* Committal warrants, where, for example, people are taken straight to custody after being convicted of a crime in their absence.

* Penal warrants for those who fail to pay fines.

Gardaí are believed to have greatly reduced the number of outstanding warrants in Finglas with the establishment of a dedicated warrant team. A similar initiative is being adopted in Blanchardstown.

But officers complain that as soon as they cut the backlog, hundreds more warrants arrive from the courts.

“Warrants in themselves are a nightmare. There shouldn’t be as many issued by the courts,” said another garda source.

“If the courts used the bail laws, which were changed by the people in a referendum, and were more restrictive on bail, instead of handing them out willy-nilly, there would be an awful lot less warrants.”

The Courts Service confirmed that it facilitated meetings between gardaí, the chief prosecution solicitor and representatives of the judiciary to improve the processing of cases and that included issues surrounding bench warrants.