Watchdog’s report into Bailey complaint to be sent to DPP

The protracted Garda Ombudsman investigation into a complaint by Ian Bailey of garda wrongdoing is expected to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions in the coming months.

The inquiry began in February 2012, but has been beset by issues, including accessing Garda documentation, interviewing up to 30 witnesses, securing copies of the so-called Bandon Tapes (recordings of phone conversations at Bandon Garda Station) and delays caused by the Bailey High Court case against the State.

The Irish Examiner understands the mammoth investigation is now complete and is being examined at senior levels within the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission.

Given the complexity and sensitivity of the investigation the file is being reviewed by a number of senior investigators, including, it is thought, by the director of investigations. Following this, it will be submitted to the commission, currently headed by two commissioners, following the resignation of chairman Simon O’Brien last January.

The completion of the review by the commission may wait until the new chairperson, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring, takes up her position towards the end of September.

The report may shortly thereafter be sent to the DPP, who will decide whether or not criminal charges should be brought against any serving or former garda.

In the vast majority of criminal investigations, unless there is clearly no evidence of wrongdoing, files are automatically submitted to the DPP for consideration. It does not, in itself, suggest there is evidence of a criminal offence.

It is unlikely the DPP would be in a position before the end of the year to conclude its own analysis and issue directions to GSOC.

If it decides against prosecution, GSOC will then send its report to Mr Bailey, the Garda commissioner and the minister for justice.

Because it is an investigation based on a complaint, rather than a public interest inquiry, GSOC is not expected to publish the report.

Mr Bailey, who was twice arrested and released without charge in connection with the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Schull, west Cork, in December 1996, lodged a complaint with GSOC in December 2011.

He consistently denied any involvement in the murder and took a High Court civil action against the gardaí and the State for conspiring to frame him. He lost his case last March.

The Bailey report will mark a busy baptism for Ms Justice Ring as chair, who will also have to contend with the inquiry into GSOC’s investigation into Sergeant Michael Galvin, who took his own life a week after he was questioned.

That inquiry — headed by Mr Justice Frank Clarke of the Supreme Court — has already sought and received documentation from GSOC. After the legal break, that inquiry is expected to enter an interview stage with the people who conducted the investigation for GSOC and others.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald announced the the inquiry under Section 109 of the Garda Siochana Actlast June after meeting with GSOC and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.Under the the act, the judge will report its results to the Minister who “shall forward it to the Ombudsman Commission for such action as it considers appropriate”.