A former Dublin garda, who was due to be sentenced on child pornography charges yesterday, has had his case adjourned for two weeks.
Conor Brough, Wade's Avenue, Raheny, admits possessing 23 offensive images at his home in Raheny in July 2002, contrary to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.
Brough (44), who served in the force for more than 20 years, was dismissed by Garda management in recent months.
The defendant, who had been based at Santry Garda station, appeared yesterday at Dublin District Court.
Judge Mary Collins was told that Brough had spent the last four months receiving treatment at Dublin's Granada Institute for Sex Offenders. She heard that a progress report from the institute and a probation report were not yet available to the court.
Brough's defence solicitor said his client was anxious for the case to be disposed of as it had been hanging over him for a long time and he had put his life on hold.
Judge Collins said she needed to study the two reports before deciding on sentencing.
A hearing in April had been adjourned to allow Brough to complete the Granada programme.
Judge Collins adjourned the case for mention at Dublin District Court on October 13th for presentation of the reports.
Earlier court hearings were told that detectives began an investigation into Brough following a complaint in 2002 by his estranged wife. Officers from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation searched his home on July 9th, 2002, and seized a computer hard disk and two zip disks with the offensive images.
Detectives said the images were downloaded from an internet website and were "graded lower than some more serious images".
Brough joined the Garda in 1983 and served in the UN police force in the Balkans. He was suspended from duty in January 2003.