THREE serving Limerick gardaà who were due to stand trial for alleged perverting the course of justice, were told on Wednesday that all charges against them are to be dropped.
The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) informed the solicitors firm representing the three GardaÃ, that it would be formally dropping all charges against the three gardai at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on March 25.
The three Limerick based Gardaà have been on suspension for the past six years, and facing criminal charges arising out of an investigation led by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) – a Dublin based Garda unit located at Harcourt Square.
The probe focussed on alleged unlawful garda interference in the prosecution of fixed charge penalty notices in respect of pending or potential motoring offences.
The three gardaÃ, Garda Peter O’Donnell, 52; Garda Paul Baynham, 37; and Garda Niall Deegan, 51; all serving in the Roads Policing Unit, Henry Street Garda Station, Limerick Garda Division, deny all of the charges.
The three gardaà represented by solicitor Liz Hughes, Hughes Murphy Solicitors, Wellington Quay, Dublin.
In September 2024, the three accused officers appeared before Limerick District Court charged with a total of 33 counts that, while serving as a member of An Garda SÃochána, they did communicate with other gardaÃ, in a manner which had a tendency or was intended to pervert the course of public justice, on dates between 2017 and 2019.
Garda O’Donnell was accused of 14 separate counts;Â Garda Baynham was facing ten separate counts; and Garda Deegan was charged with nine separate counts under the legislation.
Detective Inspector Mark Waters, GNBCI, told the court in September 2024 that he arrested and charged each of the three gardaÃ, and that each accused “made no reply” to the charges.
Detective Insp Waters told the court, that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had consented to the three gardaà facing trial on indictment at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
However, the office of the DPP contacted the solicitors firm representing the three gardai yesterday and informed it that the three accused would not face trial, as all charges were being dropped.
On March 2 this year, the Limerick Circuit Criminal Court was told that the prosecutions against the three accused were facing lengthy delays due to a drain on resources and budgetary overruns.
The prosecuting barrister, senior counsel Carl Hanahoe, apologised to the court for those delays.
Mr Hanahoe said the prosecution was “not in a position to proceed” with the trials on March 2. He cited “budgetary overruns”, as well as the time it would take for the GNBCI to organise a number of potential witnesses, as reasons for the delay.
Mr Hanahoe told Judge Colin Daly on March 2: “I have to apologise for (the delay).”
Senior Counsel, John Byrne, for Garda Baynham and Garda O’Donnell, and Senior Counsel, James B Dwyer, for Garda Deegan, each made applications before Judge Daly to have the cases struck out on March 2 last.
Mr Byrnes and Mr Dwyer told the court that their clients had been under investigation by GNBCI since 2019, that they remained on suspension since 2020, and they were still waiting to be served with a disclosure of evidence from the prosecution.
Mr Byrne told the court the situation facing his client was “highly unsatisfactory”.
Mr Dwyer, in seeking a strike out of the charges against Gda Deegan, also cited a criminal case, which he argued was struck out because the prosecuting garda had not been present in court.
Mr Dwyer said his side had requested disclosure from the prosecution in 2024, and although they had received “partial” disclosure in 2025, they had heard “nothing” since then “despite repeated requests” for full disclosure from the prosecution.
Judge Daly said on March 2 that, he would “consider” striking out the cases against all three accused, if the State did not complete requests for disclosure “within a reasonable time”.
The DPP’s decision now not to pursue prosecutions against the three gardaà comes two months on from the jury acquittals of a retired superintendent and four serving gardai who were accused of similar offences.
Last January, retired superintendent Eamon O’Neill, alongside his wife Sergeant Anne Marie Hassett; Sergeant Michelle Leahy; Garda Colm Geary and Garda Tom McGlinchey; we’re all found not guilty following their nine-week trial at Limerick circuit criminal court.
Afterwards, politicians including Fianna Fáil TDs Willie O’Dea and Cathal Crowe criticised the prosecutions of the five accused, and argued the matters should have been dealt with by way of internal disciplinary procedures, should they have been deemed appropriate.
Labour TD Alan Kelly has called for an independent enquiry into why the gardai and retired superintendent were charged with criminal offences in the first place.