THE SUPREME Court has upheld a decision requiring a garda who was once “top of his class” to resign for breach of discipline following claims he intimidated a member of the public who had made a complaint about him.
The three-judge Supreme Court hearing yesterday dismissed on all grounds the appeal by Garda Ciarán Sheehan, Scariff, Co Clare, against a High Court ruling that the 1998 Garda Síochána Complaints Tribunal decision requiring him to resign or retire should stand.
The tribunal made its decision in June 1998 after finding Garda Sheehan was in breach of discipline under the Garda Síochána Complaints Act 1986 in relation to five matters concerning a complaint by a member of the public, Patrick Teddy Connolly.
The tribunal hearings arose after a complaint by Mr Connolly, Scariff, about an incident on September 12th, 1995, outside a petrol filling station in Scariff. It was alleged the then sergeant questioned Mr Connolly about a statement Mr Connolly had made to a Garda inspector concerning an investigation by that inspector in which Sgt Sheehan was the member concerned. It was alleged that having questioned Mr Connolly, Sgt Sheehan then acted in an intimidatory manner in checking the windscreen of his car for tax and insurance and in checking the condition of his tyres.
Giving the court’s judgment, Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan said that before the petrol station incident, a complaint was made to the Garda Síochána Complaints Board by Mr Connolly but, before the board put its procedures fully in motion, Mr Connolly withdrew his complaint. There was Garda suspicion there had been intimidation by or on behalf of then Sgt Sheehan and, after he was questioned, there was a belief that suspicion was well founded. Mr Connolly later reinstated his complaint.
An internal Garda inquiry resulted in the demotion of Sgt Sheehan to the rank of garda.
The tribunal hearing took place with only partial participation by Garda Sheehan and his solicitor because they disputed jurisdiction on delay grounds. The tribunal overruled the objections and found Garda Sheehan guilty of all five charges and directed him on June 8th, 1998 to retire or resign within 21 days. Garda Sheehan did not appeal that decision within the specified 21 days but later took judicial review proceedings to the High Court aimed at quashing the tribunal’s findings. In his High Court decision in 2005, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy upheld preliminary arguments by the Garda authorities that Garda Sheehan’s delay until May 1999 in bringing his judicial review was fatal to his case. The judge rejected his substantive claims of delay by the tribunal and of alleged improper conduct by the chief executive of the board, John Hurley.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Geoghegan said he had firmly concluded the High Court was correct in its decision on the substantive claims.
