‘Rogue’ gardaí using criminal informants to entrap people, says TD

A Sinn Féin TD has called for a commission of investigation into alleged Garda malpractice in the Leitrim district, which he claims is currently ongoing.

Sligo- Leitrim TD Martin Kenny alleged that “rogue” gardaí were using criminal informants to entrap people and then prosecute them.

In one case he claimed that a Garda informant working under the direction of two gardaí robbed tools and a generator from builder’s shed and then sold the generator to a man whose house was searched the next day and the property recovered. The man was subsequently charged and convicted with having stolen property.

A Garda informant was allegedly instructed by his Garda handler to set a trap for a person at an NCT centre, leaving money as a bribe to get the car through the test, which it should not have passed. Later that employee was charged and convicted of accepting a bribe and he lost his job.

Outlining a series of incidents, Mr Kenny also claimed high ranking gardaí were protecting these rogue gardaí and covering for them with secrecy and denial.

He alleged gardaí were running their own informants outside the rules of the Covert Handling of Intelligence Sources (CHIS) programme

Speaking during the debate on the O’Higgins report, Mr Kenny highlighted a number of cases of alleged Garda malpractice and called for their investigation through a commission of inquiry, similar to the O’Higgins investigation of alleged malpractice.

“I want to clearly state that in my area of Leitrim, as in other places, the vast majority of guards are doing their job honestly and diligently,” he stressed, but said there should be a commission of investigation established for the Leitrim Garda district.