Sergeant thought he faced prison after questioning by GSOC

The garda sergeant who last week died by apparent suicide in a Donegal garda station had told his wife he was facing up to five years in prison after being questioned by Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigators.

The revelation emerged as Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald confirmed she is to initiate an independent judicial inquiry into the conduct of GSOC’s investigation into Sergeant Michael Galvin. He died on May 28, days after GSOC questioned him under caution on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and making a false and misleading statement.

The 48 year-old and a colleague had stopped their car and spoken to Sheena Stewart, 33, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, 2014. Sgt Galvin made a statement that the woman was on the footpath. He and his colleague were on their way to a hit-and-run accident and reassured Ms Stewart they would come back to her afterwards. Ms Stewart was subsequently hit by a vehicle and died.

Solicitors for Sgt Galvin have said the basis of GSOC’s accusations was a “discrepancy” between his recollection and CCTV footage, which showed Ms Stewart was on the road.

It emerged following his death that Sgt Galvin had been exonerated of any wrongdoing but was not told of this. Until yesterday, GSOC had been investigating his death.

Last night, Ms Fitzgerald confirmed the Chief Justice will be asked to nominate a High Court or Supreme Court judge to conduct an inquiry into GSOC’s conduct of the original investigation and report back to her.

In a statement confirming it was no longer investigating Sgt Galvin’s death, GSOC said it had been listening to the concerns of his family and colleagues and public commentary.

“We believe that much of the commentary has been misleading, inaccurate, and inflammatory,” said a GSOC statement. “It does however have the potential to damage public confidence in the police oversight system.

“We are convinced that our interaction with the late Sergeant Galvin was proportionate and reasonable. We were aware of the possibility of our investigation becoming compromised due to our prior engagement with Sergeant Galvin from as early as last Thursday morning, when we initiated a peer review mechanism. Following our consultations today, we have come to believe that we need a stronger vindication of the appropriateness of our interactions with Sergeant Galvin.”

Earlier, John Redmond of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors was asked what questions he believed needed to asked by an inquiry of GSOC.

“We just need to know exactly how this case was handled,” he said. “The way they dealt with Michael Galvin deserves to be examined. The fact that they phoned him to request that he come and make a cautioned statement. A cautioned statement means you are being investigated for something. The fact that they told him that over the phone.

“He came out of that interview with GSOC and he said to his wife: ‘I’m facing up to five years in prison for perverting the course of justice.’ That is a matter that needs to be examined. The matter of how they came about investigating Michael for a criminal offence where he made a statement that a girl was standing on the path as opposed to beside the path.”