Garda abuse claim report delayed

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has still not received a report from the gardaí into a case of alleged garda abuse - 10 months after he requested it.

Mr McDowell sought a report from Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy last October into the case involving Michael Gaffney.

Mr Gaffney, who was 18 at the time, alleged he was beaten in garda custody - a claim strongly supported by Minister of State Dick Roche.

The Gaffney case was one of several cases highlighted in an RTÉ Prime Time report last January.

Following the broadcast, the minister asked for a report on all the cases highlighted, including the Gaffney incident.

In response to a question from Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, Mr McDowell said Commissioner Conroy had appointed a senior officer to look at the matter.

“I have been informed by the garda authorities that the commissioner has now received and is considering the report. I expect to hear from the commissioner very shortly.”

The Gaffney case attracted particular controversy after it emerged that a complaint by him was investigated by the Garda Complaints Board (GCB).

As normal, the actual investigation was carried out by a garda. It turned out that a letter from Mr Roche supporting Gaffney’s allegation was never included in the file forwarded to the GCB. No disciplinary action against gardaí was ever taken by the GCB.

Mr Roche’s letter was initially sent to Mr McDowell, who sent it on to the Garda Commissioner’s office.

Mr Roche said he had “first hand information” supporting allegations that Mr Gaffney had been beaten in custody in September 2001.

On Prime Time, Mr Roche described the alleged ill-treatment as “tantamount to torture”.

Mr Gaffney was subsequently charged with assaulting a garda, but the case was thrown out in December 2002 after the judge expressed doubts about the evidence presented.

The chairman of the GCB, Gordon Holmes, expressed serious concern when it emerged the letter was absent from the file sent to him.

He wrote to Commissioner Conroy seeking an explanation.

At the publication of the GCB annual report last month, Mr Holmes said he was not happy with the response he had received from the commissioner.