Garda released after being questioned over missing money

A garda arrested over the theft of €9,000 from a Garda station has been released without charge.

Gardaí said a man in his 30s was detained yesterday morning over the missing cash. A spokesman confirmed today he has since been released.

The cash was part of a €26,000 haul recovered from a failed shop robbery earlier this year. It was being held as evidence in the robbery when €9,000 of it was taken from Balbriggan Garda station.

The suspect was arrested at around 11am yesterday and taken to a station in Dublin where he was questioned under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

It emerged the money was missing from the station in mid-February after the owner of the shop that was raided several weeks before asked for it back.

John Wilson, owner of the Village Store in Lusk, north Co Dublin, hoped to recover his funds, which had been bagged and tagged after the robbery and stored in a safe in Balbriggan station.

A detective superintendent from Ballymun Garda station was appointed to head an internal inquiry.

PA