Two gardaí ask court to stop Complaints Board inquiry
Garda Donal Corcoran and Garda David Gorman claim the Board’s investigation into complaints against them has been “wholly compromised”.
Both gardaí argue the Board and its chairman, Gordon Holmes have, in media comments, effectively prejudged the issues under investigation. Mr Holmes has questioned the failure of some gardaí to identify others who wielded batons against protesters.
They also claim they are at a loss to explain why the Board believes the complaints against them should be
investigated in the public interest.
A total of 41 complaints were made by members of the public about gardaí involved in policing the ‘Reclaim the Streets’ event. Most complainants alleged excessive use of force by gardaí. Four complaints name Garda Corcoran, attached to Mountjoy garda station, Dublin.
One complainant alleged Garda Corcoran threw him into the back of a Garda van and punched him in the mouth while a second alleged Garda Corcoran hit him with a baton. A third complainant said he was standing at a taxi rank on College Green when he was enveloped in a crowd of protesters and was struck three times with a baton wielded by Garda Corcoran who was identified by the complainant from the front page of the Irish Times of May 7. The fourth complainant, a woman, said Garda Corcoran struck her on the back of her head with a baton.
Garda Gorman, attached to Pearse Street garda station, is the subject of one complaint alleging he was policing the protest without wearing identification letters and numbers of his shoulders.
At the High Court yesterday, Breffni Gordon, for both gardaí, applied for leave to take judicial review proceedings aimed at preventing the Complaints Board from taking any further steps in its investigation into the complaints against his clients.
Mr Justice O'Neill said counsel had established an arguable case for taking the proceedings and granted leave. He refused to grant a stay on the Board's investigation at this stage but said it was open to counsel to apply for such a stay at any time. He returned the matter to December 16.
The two gardaí are particularly concerned about Mr Holmes’ comments about the failure of certain gardaí to identify other gardaí who were alleged to have wielded batons against protesters. A total of 150 gardaí were contacted by the investigator on this issue but no identification was forthcoming.
Gardaí Corcoran and Gorman expressed particular concern about comments by Mr Holmes in an interview with RTÉ Radio's Five-Seven Live in which Mr Holmes said:
“Unfortunately the situation was that we have film available which identified clearly guards who were not involved.
Equally those films showed very often the backs of gardaí who were wielding a baton with, perhaps you might say, excessive enthusiasm. And we couldn't identify those members of the gardaí. But when we asked their colleagues who are not being charged with anything, we found that each and every one of them seemed to forget who they (the unidentified gardaí) were and we couldn't get any identification. We didn't get identification in any one case from a colleague. I suppose that speaks well of their loyalty to their colleagues but unfortunately it doesn't speak that well of their loyalty to An Garda Siochana generally, because it's something we didn't like.”
