Four gardaí cleared on all charges in assault trial

FOUR gardaí were last night found not guilty of 15 counts of assault, false imprisonment, trespass and forcible entry after a five-week trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Garda Claire Delaney sobbed when, at 5.30pm, she was found not guilty on the three counts against her. Half an hour later, her colleagues, Alan Conlon, Eoin Murtagh and Sean O’Leary, were also acquitted.

Friends and family of the alleged victim, Owen Gaffney, also wept loudly when the latter three were acquitted. Judge Desmond Hogan shouted for silence in the court, and soon after asked them to leave.