A DUBLIN Garda is to appeal a £100 fine for neglect of duty following an internal inquiry into how a man's body was left for six days in the Phoenix Park despite being reported by a passing jogger.
The garda was removed from his duties at Aras An Uachtarain and is now on normal duty at Cabra station. The body of a Cabra man, Mr Mattie Swan, was spotted in the park by a jogger, Mr Sarah Geoghegan, last December. The body was in thick undergrowth near the Aras railings.
Ms Geoghegan went to the Aras gates nearby and reported the sighting to the garda on duty. The garda, who could not leave his post, tried to contact Cabra station but failed. He then contacted the sergeant on duty at the President's residence. When the sergeant went to the gate the girl who had reported the sighting had left. Ms Geoghegan later told the inquiry the garda told her she could leave, but the garda contested this.
Six days later as she was walking her dog through the park, she saw the body again. She reported the matter to another garda and later accompanied an officer to the site. Mr Swan, a homeless man, had been dead for over a week.
The inquiry found the garda who had initially dealt with the case guilty of neglect of duty and fined him £100, to be paid over 10 weeks.