A Garda went on trial on Tuesday (May 27) accused of multiple counts of perverting the course of justice, in respect of prosecutions of persons for alleged road traffic offences.
Tom Flavin, (51), with an address in west County Limerick, is charged with a total of 22 counts of perverting the course of justice, contrary to Common Law.
Mr Flavin pleaded “not guilty” when he was arraigned on each of the 22 charges, in front of Judge Colin Daly and a jury of eight men and four women, at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, this afternoon.
A co-accused man was arraigned alongside Mr Flavin yesterday, however today the jury was told it was no longer concerned with the man, and that it was only tasked with only bringing a verdict in the case against Mr Flavin.
In her opening address to the jury, senior prosecuting counsel, Fiona Murphy SC, with Maddie Grant BL, and instructed by solicitor Lisa O’Reilly, said the allegations against Mr Flavin surfaced when he was serving out of Rathkeale Garda Station on dates between November 2016 and September 2018.
Mr Flavin is charged that, on these dates, he did an act, namely to enter or cause to be entered, certain information on the Garda PULSE system, which had a tendency or was intended to pervert the course of justice in respect of the prosecution of named persons for the offence of driving without insurance.
“Information came to light concerning a garda allegedly engaged in sorting out driving insurance detections for individuals – that garda was Tom Flavin,” Ms Murphy told the jury.
Ms Murphy explained that the “Garda computer PULSE system” holds records of persons who have been requested by gardai to produce their driving insurance certificates following routine garda traffic stops.
Ms Murphy said the prosecution’s case was that Tom Flavin allegedly entered details into PULSE relating to individuals driving insurance certificates “which suggested they (the certificates) were in order, when they weren’t”.
Ms Murphy said the jury would hear allegations that “alterations” were made to the information being input into the PULSE system, and that the prosecution would show that “Tom Flavin made these entries”.
Ms Murphy told the jury that when a Garda is logged into the PULSE system they automatically leave a “digital footprint”. She said the prosecution would produce “CCTV and phone evidence which would corroborate” these allegations.
Ms Murphy told the jury that Mr Flavin was entitled to the presumption of innocence unless it found that the allegations against him had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The prosecution barrister said the “burden of proof” lay with the prosecution, and that Mr Flavin did not have to prove anything.
She said the jury were “not entitled to speculate” and they must find a verdict only on the evidence heard in court.
Judge Daly issued a warning to the jury “not to conduct your own investigations” into any of the parties before the court, to avoid media coverage of the trial, and not to discuss the case with anyone outside of the jury.
The trial continues tomorrow.
