This was the first investigation by the Garda ombudsman commission to result in convictions of gardaí, writes BARRY ROCHE
YESTERDAY’S SENTENCING by Judge Leonie Reynolds of three gardaí convicted by a jury earlier this year should offer reassurance that any misbehaviour by members of the force will be penalised, according to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
While the body has investigated other complaints against gardaí, this was the first to result in convictions following a trial, and this should reassure people, said spokesman Kieran Fitzgerald.
“The decision sends a message to everybody concerned that the courts and juries are not minded to tolerate misbehaviour of a criminal nature on the part of gardaí. That should act as a reassurance to right-minded, law-abiding gardaí and the public at large.
“Satisfaction or the lack doesn’t come into it. Our job is to collect the evidence and bring it to court and let the jury and the court do what they always do, and we have no quibble with that one way or another,” said Mr Fitzgerald.
The case against Daniel Hickey, Martha McEnery and John Burke arose from a commission investigation after Anthony Holness complained about his treatment during an arrest.
Supt Chris Delaney of Waterford Garda station viewed CCTV footage of the incident.
Supt Delaney referred the matter to the ombudsman commission, which launched an investigation.
Interviews were held with the three officers, along with their colleague Sgt Alan Kissane, who was cleared by the jury of assault causing harm to Mr Holness.
During yesterday’s hearing, Judge Reynolds was told of the various mitigating factors in the case of each garda, none of whom had previous convictions and whose careers in the force prior to this had been without blemish.
From Kilbrittain in west Cork, Hickey, a single man, had joined the force in September 2006 and had served in Shannon and Waterford, and his family were very proud of his joining the force, the court heard.
McEnery, who is single and a native of Listowel in north Kerry, had joined the force in October 1997 and served in Dún Laoghaire, Togher and Carrigaline in Co Cork before moving to Waterford in November 2008 when promoted to the rank of sergeant.
McEnery denied the assault and her counsel, Iseult O’Malley SC, said that she believed that she had used an acceptable force when slapping Mr Holness on the back of the head to get him to take his hand from under his body as she feared he might have a weapon.
Ms O’Malley said that her client conceded she had failed to properly manage the situation and believed that with her experience, she should have been more considered in her approach.
Burke, from Ballinlough in Cork, is married and has a two-year-old son. He joined the force in July 1995 and served in Rathmines, Terenure and the regional traffic division in Dublin Castle before transferring to Waterford in late 2009.
He had denied deliberately turning the camera away from the incident and told investigators he must have knocked against it accidentally.