Four gardaí and private citizen face charged with perverting the course of justice

The probe was initially focused on one garda but eventually took in a number of others. File photo

Four gardaí and a private citizen have been charged with perverting the course of justice following an extensive investigation in the south of the country.

 The charges are understood to be connected with an investigation into fixed charged notices (FCN) which are issued for road traffic offences. The investigation examined whether the FCNs were prosecuted after offences were detected by gardaí.

The five were arrested and charged at a garda station and later released on station bail. They are due to appear in court on the charges on 14 May. A statement released by the garda press office stated that the charges follow direction received from the Director of Public Prosecution.

“As this investigation by gardaí attached to the Garda National Bureau of criminal investigation (GNBCI) is ongoing, An Garda Siochana will not be commenting further,” the statement read.

The investigation, which was conducted by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), was initially focused on one garda but eventually took in a number of others. Last year eight gardaí were suspended in relation to the investigation. 

In total, gardaí are understood to have interviewed over 100 people in connection with the issue. The investigation is the first of its kind since the whole system of FCN was reformed following reports of malpractice made by former garda sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Those reports alleged that the practice of cancelling FCNs was widespread and different inquires largely confirmed the allegations. Following that the system was changed to ensure that only supervisors based in Thurles would have the power to cancel FCNs. This ensured that senior gardaí could no longer enter the Pulse system and cancel the FCNs on the basis of a petition, which was the practice prior to 2014.

The investigation in the south of the country being conducted by the NCBI was originally focused on a different matter but in the course of inquiries, suspicions were raised about the cancelling of FCNs and whether any practice was outside the rules of the new system that was instigated in 2014.