Legal expert slams garda interrogation

‘SCANDALOUS’ interrogation methods used by some gardaí — as highlighted in a recent court case — should no longer be tolerated, Professor Dermot Walsh has said.

The criminal law expert referred to a civil case taken by Dublin solicitor Gráinne Malone, who sued two gardaí for defamation.

Earlier this month, the Garda Commissioner and the Justice Minister apologised to Ms Malone for comments made by Garda Eddie Brennan and Garda William Dempsey.

Ms Malone’s complaint arose out of a taped interview the two officers had with a client of hers at Tallaght station in Dublin in April 2000.

The contents only became known after she sought a discovery order.

During the interview, the gardaí sought to undermine Ms Malone’s work as a solicitor, making comments later described in the apology as “wholly unwarranted and untrue”.

Separately, the gardaí engaged in verbal intimidation of a graphic sexual nature in their descriptions of what the suspect might face in jail.

Prof Walsh said: “The manner in which those guards conducted that interview was absolutely scandalous, making defamatory references to the solicitor. And the manner in which they were browbeating the suspect to make a confession was absolutely deplorable.”

The two officers were later disciplined and fined two weeks’ pay.

Prof Walsh said: “I would have expected they would have been dismissed. No police force should tolerate that sort of interrogation.” He also said the case suggested that while some interviews were recorded, gardaí knew the tapes would rarely be seen.