A suspended garda has been charged with several offences including soliciting the murders of a woman and three children.
The man, aged in his 30s, appeared before a sitting of Dublin District Court at the Criminal Courts of Justice on Wednesday.
Wearing all black, the accused officer, who cannot be named, placed his head in his hands during his court appearance.
The garda, who has been suspended from duty during an investigation into his alleged activities in Dublin, was arrested and charged at Kevin Street Garda station shortly after 9am on Wednesday, the court heard.
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Four of five alleged offences are alleged to have occurred between August 21st and August 22nd, 2021.
On those dates, he is accused of soliciting an unknown person to murder two females and two males, contrary to Section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861.
The final charge alleges that the garda attempted to induce a woman, one of the females whose murder he allegedly solicited, to refrain from seeking financial support for his child “by deception” between February 2019 and July 2020.
Det Sgt Mark Melbourne, of the Garda Anti-Corruption Unit, told Judge Darach McCarthy the officer made no reply to the charges.
The detective sergeant sought reporting restrictions to protect the identities of the witnesses, three of whom were children, and their mother, he said.
There was no objection to bail, which was set at €300, though conditions were sought.
The accused man’s solicitor, Conor McGreevy, confirmed the garda had surrendered his passport.
The judge imposed a restriction prohibiting media from identifying any parties in the case and adjourned the matter to September 25th.
Earlier on Wednesday, An Garda Síochána said its anti-corruption unit had been investigating the activities of a “particular Garda member based in the Dublin Region”.
It confirmed the man had been suspended since the investigation began. “As this is an ongoing criminal investigation, An Garda Síochána is making no further comment,” it said.
