John O'neill was handed the grubby cash of Dublin criminals in pub car-parks in return for tearing up warrants and summonses. Two of those from whom he admitted taking thousands of pounds are suspected of involvement in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
In his childhood in Bluebell, O'Neill played soccer with some of the other people from whom he accepted bribes, after his crippling debts forced him to betray his Gardai colleagues.
Last week O'Neill had to tell his three young children the terrible truth, that he was about to go to prison. The house in Tallaght, where his family lives, may now be repossessed.
"He was a terrible financial manager. When he was being interviewed he described how he was buying cars and jeeps and taking out new loans. He just buried himself in debt. When he finally ran out of road, this is the way he went," said a senior Garda source.
O'Neill grew up in Camac Park, Bluebell, a neighbour of his co-accused Anthony Long. He joined the Garda in 1985 and served as a uniformed member in Tallaght and Crumlin.
He frequently gave evidence in District Courts, mostly in Rathfarnham, in road traffic cases and other minor offences. Often he would give evidence in two or three courts each day.
A source described O'Neill as "very active as a policeman". He was awarded the Scott Medal for bravery in 1990 when he pursued, confronted and arrested an armed robber who pointed a shotgun at him. The award is the most prestigious honour a garda can receive.
O'Neill did not drink, smoke or gamble and put in a great deal of overtime at work. But his chaotic personal finances were to ensure a fall from grace which no one could have predicted.
Enormous loans with credit unions and a hefty mortgage made O'Neill increasingly desperate for money to maintain the high life to which he and his family had become accustomed. His income was soaked up almost entirely by his debts, and in 1985 he took action which was to prove catastrophic.
O'Neill approached an acquaintance about his difficulties, and he in turn introduced him to Paul Ward, now a suspect in the murder of Veronica Guerin.
During the following months, in return for tearing up warrants and summonses for various offences, O'Neill was handed amounts of cash by Ward and some of his criminal associates. The bribes were usually collected in darkness in pub car-parks.
He also signed passport forms and photographs for certain people, although he was not charged in relation to these matters, as the documents were recovered and no passports were issued as a result.
Later the stakes were raised and O'Neill began to come under pressure from those lining his pockets. His criminal associates decided to put him to greater use and asked him to provide intelligence about a murder investigation, information to which he did not have access. By the time O'Neill was arrested, he had taken £16,100 in bribes.
"I imagine he realised how serious the situation with these people was, but he was buried so deeply in debt that no financial institution would touch him," said the Garda source. "Luckily the level of material he would have had access to was very low. He was promising things he could never deliver and eventually he would have run out of road with them, too."
After O'Neill was arrested and interviewed he resigned from the force. Since then he has been unemployed, except for some courier work.
The court heard O'Neill talked openly to detectives, who interviewed him for two days, and made a confession. He expressed relief at revealing everything, and most of the subject matter of the charges would not have been revealed otherwise.
"All of the money he got went on the family, motorbikes for the kids, a change of car, holidays abroad. The house was low-key and was mortgaged up to the hilt," said a source.
"He only broke the news to his kids about what has happened last week. His wife is obviously very upset, but if you go down that road these things are treated with a great deal of tenacity by the gardai because we survive on having a good name."
Pleading for leniency defence counsel Mr Brendan Grogan SC said the case had put tremendous pressure on O'Neill's relationship with his wife and he regretted his offending and the effect it had had on his colleagues.
"John O'Neill offended out of desperation and not out of badness. He has lost everything and is a broken man," said Mr Grogan.
Following his conviction yesterday a source said O'Neill had not been operating to a hidden agenda and had taken the bribes to meet his mounting debts. Once he began taking money, an element of blackmail was inevitable and he was in the pocket of those paying him.
"It will not be easy being a former member of the Gardai in prison. He will be coming across people he would have dealt with in the past. But that's life," the source said.