Roche letter missing from garda probe file

A LETTER written by a Government minister, corroborating allegations that a teenager was beaten up while in garda custody, was not included in the investigation file sent to the Garda Complaints Board, it has emerged.

Garda Complaints Board (GCB) chairman Gordon Holmes yesterday described the omission of Deputy Dick Roche's letter as "serious" if it was accidental and "sinister" if it was deliberate.

Mr Roche, Minister of State for European Affairs, wrote a letter to then Justice Minister John O'Donoghue saying he had "first-hand information" supporting allegations that 18-year-old Michael Gaffney had been beaten in garda custody.

Mr Roche publicly highlighted the case last month in a Prime Time report on alleged garda ill-treatment, in which he described as "tantamount to torture" the alleged beating of Gaffney.

The five-page letter was sent by the minister's office to the Garda Commissioner's office. It is not clear what happened to it after this point.

Mr Holmes yesterday said he had written to Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy seeking an explanation as to why Mr Roche's letter was not included in the file given to the GCB.

"From our point of view it's unsatisfactory because we never saw Deputy Roche's letter. If that wasn't on the file it should have been and if it was on the file and taken off before the file was sent to us, that is sinister. Either way it requires an investigation."

Mr Holmes said it was not the case that gardaí did not know of the letter.

He added: "I have sent a letter to the commissioner asking for an explanation, and I have followed that letter up. So we're not sleeping on it."

The garda file without Mr Roche's letter was sent to the GCB and in turn forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who ruled that no garda be prosecuted.

Mr Roche yesterday welcomed Mr Holmes's actions. "I'm very pleased he's examining it, because I had questions about the complaint board's investigation. I would be very interested to know why the GCB wasn't fully informed."

"There's no doubt that the gardaí knew I was interested in the case and that I had brought it to the attention of the minister and that I had evidence corroborating the statement of the young man. But I was never contacted about that," Mr Roche said.

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he was awaiting the results of investigations launched by Commissioner Conroy into all the cases highlighted on Prime Time, including Mr Gaffney's.

There was no response yesterday from the Garda Press Office.