A GARDA has been convicted of assault following an investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission into the arrest by three gardaí of a man in Waterford last year.
Garda Sgt Martha McEnery of Waterford Garda station was cleared of the more serious charge of assault causing harm to Anthony Holness but convicted of the lesser charge of assaulting him on New Street, Waterford, on January 29th 2010.
The jury at Waterford Circuit Court took over four hours in total to reach a verdict in the case of McEnery – one of four gardaí who were charged on foot of the commission investigation into a complaint by Mr Holness that he had been assaulted.
Daniel Hickey was convicted by the same jury last Friday of assault causing harm to Mr Holness while another officer on the same unit, Garda Sgt Alan Kissane, was acquitted of the same charge after the jury spent more than two hours deliberating.
Garda John Burke was convicted of acting with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of another and acting in a manner tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.
The State had alleged that Burke, who was working in the control room at Waterford Garda station at the time, had deliberately diverted CCTV cameras away from his colleagues as they went to arrest Mr Holness for a public order offence.
McEnery sat alone in the dock yesterday for the first time during the five-week trial, her head bowed, as the jury emerged and the foreman stood up to hand the issue paper to the registrar.
“Not guilty of assault causing harm, guilty of assault,” the registrar read to the court. McEnery silently fought back tears as Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, and Isobel O’Malley SC, defending, discussed bail.
Mr Delaney said that because McEnery had been convicted of a summary offence rather than a more serious indictable offence, he would not be seeking any change to her bail terms and he asked for her to be remanded on bail for sentence on November 7th.
Judge Leonie Reynolds granted the application and McEnery will be sentenced with Hickey and Burke. They have both been ordered to surrender their passports and sign on once a week at local Garda stations while on bail.
The Waterford case is the first taken by the ombudsman commission to result in convictions of gardaí by a jury following a trial.
Commission head of communications Kieran Fitzgerald was yesterday reluctant to comment in detail before sentencing. “The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was set up to provide independent oversight of policing – that includes the investigation of alleged offences by gardaí. In this case, as in all other cases, we gathered the evidence and brought it to the appropriate forum for adjudication as happened here today.
“Having this case heard in open court should add to public confidence that the system of police oversight is working. Satisfaction or disappointment does not enter into it, our job was to gather evidence and bring it to the appropriate forum and that’s what was done here,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
Garda sources last night confirmed that Hickey had tendered his resignation to Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan following his conviction on Friday. His resignation has been accepted.