A FORMER RDS car park attendant has been found not guilty of people trafficking at Dublin airport over two years ago.
A jury in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court took over half an hour to acquit David Gaffney (24) of facilitating illegal immigrants into Ireland and returned a not guilty verdict by direction of the judge on a second count of holding a false employment confirmation letter.
Mr Gaffney, Dorset Street, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to both charges between December 20th, 2006, and January 5th, 2007, and told gardaí in interview that he was unaware the six Egyptian men he arranged to pick up from the airport were not supposed to be in Ireland.
He said an RDS co-worker, known as “Baha”, organised the airport “meet and greet” job and promised him €500 for the day with the possibility of similar future work.
Judge Frank O’Donnell thanked the seven women and five men of the jury for completing their “essential role” in the judicial system.
Det Sgt Ciarán Noone of the Garda National Immigration Bureau agreed with Seán Gillane, defending, that his client said his only function was to collect the six Egyptians from the airport and bring them to a city centre hotel.
Det Sgt John Foudy said Mr Gaffney described having an angry phone conversation with Baha when he left the airport.
Det Sgt Foudy agreed with Mr Gillane that Baha was an Egyptian national who was deported with a one-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty at the District Court to organising people trafficking.
He agreed that a Garda handwriting expert could not connect his client’s signature with the signed writing “Declan Gaffney” footing the false letter.