Garda will not face charges over Trevor Sargent leak
The Director of Public Prosecutions decided against recommending an action against any garda involved in the case.
A garda in her 30s, who was based at Balbriggan, had been questioned about how letters written by Mr Sargent, on departmental notepaper, made it into the public domain.
Under a law enacted in 2005 it is a crime for a garda to release confidential information.
In his letters Mr Sargent had asked that charges not be brought against a constituent of his who was involved in a fight with his neighbour. When this was made public he resigned as junior minister.
However, the relevant documents had certain identification tags which proved they came from within the Garda Síochána’s Balbriggan station.
The opposition initially suggested the leak was orchestrated by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern as punishment for the Green Party forcing the resignation of former Defence Minister Willie O’Dea.
On this basis the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy ordered the source to be investigate and gardaí as well as the Evening Herald newspaper were questioned.
The decision not to bring charges does not preclude a garda facing disciplinary action from within the force.
The minister said he had not received an apology for the suggestion that he leaked the documents.
