Probe as gardaí leave hospital after crash before being breathalysed

THE Garda watchdog is investigating the case of two plain-clothes gardaí who were involved in an accident on the M50 motorway but who left an ambulance before they were breathalysed.

The incident followed the crash on the M50 on the evening of February 6 last, when the unmarked Garda vehicle, understood to be a Ford Mondeo, crashed with a Hyundai Santa Fe.

Gardaí were called to the scene and the occupants of the car were taken by ambulance to Tallaght General Hospital, but on arriving at the hospital both officers left the ambulance.

Both men – understood to be a detective garda and a detective sergeant – had been due to be examined at the hospital. They left before they could be breathalysed or before they could give blood and urine samples.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) confirmed it received a call from gardaí notifying them of the case at 11pm on the night of February 6.

A spokesman for the GSOC said an investigation was under way but did not make any further comment.

The accident on the M50 took place on the day of the international rugby Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy at Croke Park.

The car in which the plain-clothes officers were travelling was a Garda car, but it is uncertain whether one or both of the men were on duty at the time.

It is understood the occupants of the Santa Fe were not seriously injured in the crash, which took place when both vehicles were heading southbound on the busy motorway.

It is understood that one of the gardaí involved received an injury from his seat belt while the other received a cut to his head.

The Garda Síochána are obliged to inform the GSOC of any incident involving a member of the force.

It is believed the accident on the M50 took place at about 8pm.

One aspect of the GSOC probe is likely to be a search of phone calls made by the officers from mobile phones in the time before the crash.

However, since they were never admitted to hospital for an examination, no scientific data will be available to check whether or not the occupants of the Garda car had been drinking.