Bid to get Garda homicide figures thwarted

The Garda’s top statistician twice sought, in vain, to get access to a Garda report for the Policing Authority on homicide figures — and was only granted sight of it a week-and-a-half after a public meeting with the authority.

Gurchand Singh, head of the Garda Analysis Service, said the report was the work of an internal review he recommended be set up to examine 41 homicide cases and which comprised both gardaí and civilian analysts.

He told the Oireachtas Justice Committee his two analysts had been “very frustrated” on that review group and both they and himself had expected to see, and sign off on, any report being submitted to the authority before a public meeting on April 27, 2017.