Garda to stand trial next year accused of forging letter from the DPP

A woman garda has been sent forward for trial accused of using a forged letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions in connection with a criminal investigation.

Catherine McGowan (aged 47) of Ashpark Grove, Lucan, Co. Dublin was charged in the District Court with one count of using a copy of a false instrument.

The offence, under Section 28 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Act 2001, is alleged to have happened at Bray Garda Station on June 21, 2011.

The charge is that she used a copy of a false instrument with the intention of inducing another person to accept it as genuine, to the "prejudice of that or any other person".

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, dated January 14, 2009.

Judge Martin Nolan set a date of June 30 for her trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.