A High Court jury has awarded €20,000 damages to a Dublin-based detective garda after finding he was libelled in an article in the Sunday Business Postnewspaper.
The Garda claimed that the article - which did not name him - wrongly meant he had demanded money from members of the public to pay off other gardaí to prevent criminal prosecutions going ahead.
The jury also recommended that Det John Doggett should be paid full legal costs and, if he wants it, that the newspaper should print an apology to him.
However, Mr Justice Kearns made no final order in the case and adjourned the matter to November 29th to hear submissions from lawyers on the implications of the jury's verdict.
Det Doggett (51), who is stationed at Crumlin garda station, submitted that while he was not named in the article published on January 21st 2001, he knew it had referred to him. The jury decided that the article did identify him.
It was claimed by Det Doggett that the article wrongly meant he had demanded money from members of the public to pay off other gardai so as to prevent criminal prosecutions going ahead and that he took bribes while a member of the Garda.
The defence denied that the words could be or were taken to have referred to Det Doggett or that he was identifiable to readers of the newspaper.
The article said gardai were considering offering immunity from prosecution to a builder to aid their investigation into five officers in a drink-driving case. It stated that senior gardai were worried that the builder would withdraw his claims, which had implicated a uniformed officer and four detectives.
Det Doggett, in his evidence, said he had been served with garda disciplinary papers but had been completely and totally exonerated. Allegations made against him were false and he was cleared.