Andrew Carey
andrew@limerickpost.ie
A WEXFORD garda has been cleared of allegedly stealing money from the Minister for Justice after a judge ruled certain evidence was inadmissible in the trial.
Garda Ciaran Folan, who was stationed in Clifden Garda Station during 2007 and 2008, had denied five counts of the theft relating to work allowances.
It was alleged that he had falsely claimed work allowances that he was not entitled to.
At a trial before Judge Tom O’Donnell at Limerick Circuit Court, State Prosecutor John O’Sullivan outlined the case before the court on Wednesday where Garda Folan was charged with five counts of the alleged theft of various amounts totalling more that €3,300 on dates between September 2007 and January 2008.
Following legal argument, Judge O’Donnell ruled that certain documents relating to Garda Folan’s payslips were inadmissible as evidence for the prosecution.
Defence Counsel Colm O’Briain argued that payslips were generated on a computer system every week but every fourth week, any allowances due for weekend work or overtime, were manually input to the system meaning that there “was human intervention in generating the payslip”,
This Judge O’Donnell said meant that the payslips were not proof of the accused Garda actually received the payment.
Judge O’Donnell then directed the the jury of eight women and four men to find the accused not guilty.
