Ombudsman issues gardaí complaints court warning

PEOPLE who make malicious complaints about gardaí could be prosecuted in the courts, the Garda Ombudsman said yesterday.

Carmel Foley told delegates at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) the ombudsman commission was neither a friend nor an enemy of the force.

Ms Foley — one of three commissioners who head the office — said the body had the power to investigate incidents, such as car accidents, involving off-duty gardaí.

She told delegates she would have to check to what extent activities of Garda Reserve members, who are off duty, could be investigated by the office.

She confirmed that actions of reserve members who are on duty are subject to investigation.

Ms Foley said the office — due to open for business on May 9 — currently had 80 staff, including 30 investigators.

During a question and answer session, Dublin north central delegate Larry Brady said many members were the subject of vexatious and frivolous complaints designed to frustrate or delay a court prosecution.

Responding, Ms Foley said: “I’m very conscious of that and there is a specific provision in the legislation which enables us not just to take account of such, but to send a file to the DPP if we find the complaint vexatious or malicious.”

He said the new complaint form pointed out to people the potential penalties for such complaints.

“It’s easy to subvert the complaints process if the person has another agenda. I’m not surprised it’s a concern to members.”

She told delegates that the commission was independent: “We are not for the guards and we’re not against the guards.”

But she said the commission would not be able to work properly without the cooperation of the force.

She said they hoped to resolve many of the routine complaints informally through mediation.

Responding to questions from a number of delegates, Ms Foley confirmed that the actions of off-duty gardaí could be investigated by her office, but said it depended on the actions in question.

But she said incidents, such as car accidents, involving off-duty gardaí, could be examined.

“If we believe an incident could have implications to discredit the force we are to investigate,” she said.

She said that given they had a limited number of investigators they would have to prioritise on serious cases.

She said they would have three teams of ten people and were seeking funding for a fourth such team.

The Director of Investigations will head the investigation unit.

He is joined by an assistant director, six senior investigators, investigators and assistant investigators.

The investigators include two former Army officers and ex Revenue officials.

Ms Foley said retired Chief Superintendent John O’Brien was their garda consultant.