High Court rejects challenge by dismissed garda convicted of drink-driving

Judge finds former officer received fair procedures after conviction for driving well above the legal alcohol limit

Dismissed garda loses High Court challenge over drink-driving conviction. File picture

A garda who received a nomination for the President's Bravery Award has lost a High Court challenge to his dismissal after being convicted of driving with almost four times the legal alcohol limit.

John English, who was attached to Clonmel Garda Station, had a 17-year career in An Garda Síochána. He was involved in a number of successful investigations and received commendations before being charged with drink-driving in August 2022.

In May 2023, he was convicted at Cashel District Court, fined €500 and disqualified from driving for three years. While he contested the District Court case, he did not lodge a notice of appeal following his conviction.

He was suspended in 2022 and, in February 2024, was notified that he was to be dismissed on the basis that he was considered unfit for retention in the force. He was told it was “wholly inappropriate” that an officer who had committed a serious breach of discipline should continue to serve.

His solicitor corresponded with the Garda Commissioner, submitting, among other arguments, that dismissal was a wholly inappropriate and disproportionate sanction. The Commissioner was asked to appoint a board of inquiry so that the matters could be properly and comprehensively considered.

On January 20, 2025, Mr English was notified that his dismissal would take effect from February 4, 2025. He immediately applied for and obtained leave from the High Court to seek to have the decision quashed.

The proceedings were brought against the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice and the State, all of whom denied the claims. The Commissioner submitted that he had acted within his powers at all times and had lawfully exercised his functions under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and Garda regulations. He also argued that Mr English had been afforded fair procedures throughout.

In a judgment refusing to quash the decision, Mr Justice Seán Gillane said the central thrust of Mr English’s case was that the Commissioner had acted unfairly and in breach of fair procedures by failing to provide him with all of the materials relied upon when considering whether to dismiss him.

The judge also noted that Mr English had openly acknowledged his conviction and expressed shame for his actions, for which he said there was “no excuse”.

Mr Justice Gillane said he shared the view expressed by another judge in a separate case that Mr English could not “sensibly say” that he did not know the basis for the Commissioner’s proposal to dismiss him under the Garda regulations.

He was also not in a position where he had been deprived of sufficient information to challenge the reasoning that ultimately led to the Commissioner’s decision, the judge said. He added that Mr English had been afforded fair procedures.

Notwithstanding the ingenuity of some of the arguments advanced in the case, it was of central relevance that there was no dispute whatsoever about the primary fact in this case, he said.

That fact was that Mr English had been detected driving in a public place with a reading of 95 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath and had been convicted on the criminal standard of proof.

His previous record of service and good conduct was not in dispute and it was difficult not to have a degree of sympathy for him, the judge said.

However, An Garda Síochána is a disciplined force with the Commissioner at its head, and the Oireachtas has charged him with the responsibility of deciding whether a member is fit for retention in such circumstances, he added.