Garda to face two charges over driving on night three men killed in N7 crash

A Garda member has been served with summonses by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) relating to two charges he is now facing over the alleged manner of his driving before a fatal crash in which three men were killed in Dublin two years ago.

The three deceased – Dean Maguire (29), Karl Freeman (26) and Graham Taylor (31) – were in a car that was pursued before it crashed into an oncoming truck on the N7 between Citywest and Baldonnell on July 7th, 2021.

The car, which burst into flames, was driving on the wrong side of the road, apparently in an attempt to evade gardaí whose attention the men had attracted on the night. The three were members of a Tallaght-based burglary gang and had very lengthy criminal records.

When the men’s inquests came before Dublin District Coroner’s Court last month a representative of Gsoc, which investigates alleged wrongdoing by Garda members, applied for the hearing to be adjourned. He said this was on the basis that a Garda member was set to face charges over the alleged manner of their driving before the deaths.

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First indication

The evidence before the court was the first time anyone, including the Garda member at the centre of the case, had heard that criminal charges were imminent.

In a statement on Wednesday, Gsoc said it attended another hearing of the Dublin city Coroner’s Court this morning in relation to the deaths of the three men.

It said it had requested an adjournment of the coroner’s proceedings “owing to the fact that the Director of Public Prosecutions has instituted criminal proceedings against a member of An Garda Síochána in relation to the incident”.

“The Coroner granted the adjournment, pending determination of the criminal proceedings. As the matter is now before the courts, Gsoc will be making no further comment at this time.”

The decision to charge the Dublin-based Garda member and the manner in which news of the charges first emerged was criticised last month by the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank and file gardaí, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), which represents Garda members of sergeant and inspector rank.

Served summonses

It is understood that Gsoc officers met in Dublin on Tuesday with the garda being charged and he was served with summonses to appear before the courts in coming weeks. The specific date of that court appearance was not yet clear.

In a statement on Wednesday, the GRA said it had “only been informed of the exact nature of these charges in the past 24 hours and will now take time to consider the implications and any possible course of action required”.

“We can assure all members that all relevant supports and advice have been made available to our colleague at this time and the Association will continue to do so,” it added.

“While we respect the independence of both the offices of the DPP and GSOC we have a number of questions regarding the timing and handling of this case which we will address at an appropriate later date.”