A FINE Gael county councillor asked a Garda Superintendent to “sort” a speeding ticket for him at the same time he was issuing a motion calling on the government to review the locations of speed vans in his native Limerick, a trial heard this Wednesday.
Text messages exchanged between Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin and Garda Superintendent Eamon O’Neill were heard in evidence at the trial of Mr O’Neill, now retired, and four serving Gardaí, who are all accused of unlawfully interfering in pending or potential road traffic prosecutions.
The court heard that Mr Galvin, of Ballaugh, Abbeyfeale, County Limerick, sent Superintendent O’Neill an image of a fixed charge penalty notice relating to him being detected by Garda Josephine Falvey, allegedly speeding at 142kph in a 120kph zone at the M20, Patrickswell, on November 12, 2017.
The image sent by Mr Galvin to Superintendent O’Neill was accompanied by a text message that said: “Please read, chat later.”
In response, Superintendent O’Neil texted Mr Galvin: “A decent lady”, to which Mr Galvin replied, “sort her so”.
A subsequent text message sent from Superintendent O’Neill to Mr Galvin said: “Have I ever let you down, kid?”
Laura Galligan, a forensic telecommunications examiner with An Garda Síochána, said she forensically examined Mr Galvin’s phone as part of an investigation led by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI).
A later message sent from Mr Galvin to Superintendent O’Neill read: “Can you sort that for me?”
Superintendent O’Neill replied: “I’m trying my friend.”
A further message sent from Superintendent O’Neill to Mr Galvin asked: “How many have you ATM?”, to which Mr Galvin replied, “Not sure, but lots.”
A further message sent from Cllr Galvin to Superintendent O’Neill was of an image of a Council motion captioned with the words “Ha ha ha”, which stated: “I will move to ask the government for a review of go safe vans in County Limerick.”
A subsequent text message sent from Superintendent O’Neill to Mr Galvin stated: “Is sorted.”
Mr Galvin is not one of the five accused on trial, he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and he was not arrested as part of the GNBCI probe.
The five accused, including Mr O’Neill, Sergeant Anne-Marie Hassett, Sergeant Michelle Leahy, Roxboro Road Garda Station; Garda Tom McGlinchey, Murroe Garda Station; and Garda Colm Geary, Ennis Garda Station, have pleaded not guilty to a total of 39 counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
It’s the State’s case that Superintendent O’Neill received requests from civilians and other Gardaí, seeking to have potential or pending road traffic offences against motorists withdrawn or struck out of court, and that Superintendent O’Neill forwarded these enquires onto his co-accused to check with Gardaí involved in the prosecutions if anything could be done to withdraw or strike out the cases.
Superintendent O’Neill said in a prepared statement to investigating Gardaí that “the involvement of members of An Garda Síochána, in particular those of high rank, including superintendents, in dealing with fixed charge penalty notices … is not a criminal offence and never was a criminal offence”.
Mr O’Neill also argued that “internal circulars and reports within An Garda Síochána allow for such behaviour”.
He added: “Discretion is part of good policing, and the cultivation of good community relations, which is fundamental to the work of An Garda Síochána.”
In a statement given to investigating Gardaí, Sergeant Hassett said any communication she had with colleagues in relation to the alleged offences committed by civilians or others was in the “bona fide pursuit of the long established custom and practise, by members of Garda Síochána, in assisting prosecuting members to exercise properly and appropriately their discretion” in each case.
She said she “strenuously denied” the three charges against her, and that any actions by her were guided “with particular regard to the principles set out in the ‘Discretionary Powers of An Garda Siochana’ report by Assistant Commissioner John O’Mahony in 2013, and conformed with the principles and standards outlined in the document (Discretionary Powers – An Garda Siochana)”.
The trial, in its fifth week, is continuing before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.