Several allegations were levelled against gardai at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this week when three men on trial for assaulting an off-duty garda at a city night-club were acquitted by a jury.
Among them was the contention that off-duty gardai were working as security personnel at the club where the assault was alleged to have taken place, Copper Face Jacks on Harcourt Street.
The owner of the club, himself a former garda, yesterday denied the allegation. However, a number of gardai have already been disciplined for working as night-club security, Supt John Farrelly of the Garda Press Office confirmed. No details of individual cases were available.
"We have inspectors that visit these premises and if there is any evidence at all that our men are doing doors, it will be fully investigated. In Garda-speak, it's a prohibited spare-time activity," he said.
Some so-called "nixers" were acceptable for off-duty gardai but top of the list of those not tolerated was working in the security industry, he said.
Those alleged to have breached this rule are subject to an internal disciplinary hearing and, if found in breach, can face sanctions ranging from a caution to dismissal. The off-duty garda allegedly assaulted was Garda Keith Dore of Donnybrook Garda station, who went clubbing in Copper Face Jacks on April 29th last year. He agreed during cross-examination there was a possibility some of the security personnel at the club on the night could have been gardai. "It is possible, yes. But I did not know them," he said.
He said he didn't pay to get into the club, as he knew the doorman. The names of the security guards on the night were not recorded by gardai called to deal with the incident, something which defence counsel criticised. The gardai said the security staff insisted they had seen no incident.
The club's owner, retired garda Mr Cathal Jackson, denied any of his doormen were off-duty gardai. Speaking through his solicitor, Mr Michael Staines, he said: "There were certainly no gardai working as bouncers at the club on that night and in fact Mr Jackson has never employed gardai as bouncers."
The Garda code, studied by all officers during training in Templemore, lists prohibited spare-time activities for members of An Garda Siochana. These include working part-time as security officers or private investigators where it is likely their Garda powers would be called upon; and working as directors or secretaries of security firms.
The case raised a number of other serious issues, including how gardai investigate cases involving colleagues. It was alleged in court that the case had only been "half-investigated", that the garda who was allegedly assaulted was drunk and had started the row by waving a bottle, but that investigating gardai "just did not want to know". Garda Dore denied he was drunk or started the row.
A jury of 11 acquitted the three accused. They were Mr Francis Connolly (21), of Co Tipperary; Mr Terence O'Reilly (28), of Rathfarnham; and his brother Mr Leslie O'Reilly (22), of Dundalk. The O'Reillys had admitted striking the garda, but claimed they were acting in self-defence after the bottle was waved at them.
Will any action be taken against Garda Dore for allegedly waving a bottle at others? Insp Simon O'Connor of the Garda Press Office said he could not comment on an individual case. However, he said if a garda did something on or off-duty which brought the force into disrepute, it would be investigated.
The jury also heard evidence from Garda Joe Lowney - one of two gardai summoned to the scene - that he called an ambulance for Garda Dore but when it arrived Garda Dore had been taken to hospital in the Donnybrook patrol car. Questions were asked about how the Donnybrook car could have arrived to take away a colleague on a busy Friday night/Saturday morning, but Garda Lowney first said he couldn't comment. He then suggested it could have been passing.
Garda Lowney and his colleague, Garda Aisling O'Connor, were criticised by defence counsel for not finding witnesses. "There wasn't even a masquerade of an attempt to find potential witnesses," Mr Padraig Dwyer, for Mr Terence O'Reilly, said. The gardai rejected this.
The strong words used by the defence in this case, such as branding at least one of the investigating gardai a liar and suggesting Garda evidence was "smelly", will surely have done nothing to increase public confidence in the Garda Siochana.