Courts

Garda whistleblower absent from hearing after taking ill ‘amid stress of proceedings’

Lois West has migraines, cold sores and difficulty sleeping due to anxiety related to her experience, psychiatrist said

Today marks six years to the day since Lois West and her colleague Laura Galligan testified to the Oireachtas about errors in Garda homicide data

Stephen Bourke
Thu Mar 7 2024 - 20:03

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) continued its hearing into claims by Garda whistleblower Lois West on Thursday afternoon in her absence after hearing that she had taken ill.

Ms West had already left the hearing room when her legal team told the tribunal they were unable to take instruction because their client was unwell as a result of the stress of the proceedings.

“Her husband expressed very serious concerns about his wife,” said her barrister, David Byrnes.

“I am sorry to hear she’s not feeling well about this matter. She is forefront in my mind in this case,” said adjudicator Roger McGrath.

READ MORE

However, the complainant side objected to finishing the hearing at 5.30pm as originally planned if it meant the case might have to proceed beyond Friday.

Earlier, Ms West’s barrister said his client had learned only late on Wednesday evening while a senior Garda executive was testifying to the WRC that her role in the force’s analytics service was “gone”.

“To find out yesterday that that deputy role has been gone a year and a half, two years, what would you say?” counsel for Lois West asked her treating psychiatrist today.

“I think that must be shocking,” witness Dr Elizabeth Cryan said.

Ms West has complained under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Payment of Wages Act 1991 against the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, the Government and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Ms West, who was deputy head of the Garda Siochana Analysis Service (GSAS) at assistant principal grade prior to taking extended sick leave, says her career has been “stymied” since she testified to the Oireachtas about errors in the recording of official homicide data six years ago and that the force mishandled her complaint about bullying and sexual harassment by a senior official in Garda Headquarters.

Today marks six years to the day since Ms West and her colleague Laura Galligan testified to the Oireachtas about errors in Garda homicide data.

Earlier Ms West’s treating consultant psychiatrist, Dr Elizabeth Cryan, gave evidence that Ms West had “a severe adjustment disorder”.

The complainant “would meet the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD” except that there was no direct exposure to death, serious injury or sexual violence – the alleged sexual harassment Ms West had referred to falling short of that diagnostic standard, she said.

Ms West’s physical symptoms were linked to “a high level of stress and anxiety”, including tooth grinding, “very severe” migraines, cold sores, perioral dermatitis, muscle tension and sleeping difficulties, she said.

Asked by Mr Byrnes about Ms West’s ability to “think rationally” and be “reasoned” with about what she perceived, Dr Cryan said Ms West was “completely rational, completely clear, an excellent detailed historian in relation to all aspects”.

On Thursday morning, Ms West’s GSAS colleague Laura Galligan, who testified to the Oireachtas with Ms West on errors in Garda homicide data, said she “naively thought you might be commended for identifying something, but it was the complete opposite”.

Ms Galligan explained that she had identified issues with 41 cases after comparing the files of the Chief State Pathologist, where she had worked as a senior scientist, to Garda Pulse records. She said she had her methodology called “inherently weak” and “flawed” in a report to the Policing Authority into which neither she nor Ms West had any input.

She said the attitude shown by sworn members of the force working with civilian analysts on the issue was: “Run along, there’s nothing to see here.”

“It was very belittling behaviour, very intimidating,” she said.

Proceedings at the WRC on Thursday continued into the late evening for the second time this week.

LATEST STORIES