Courts / Dublin / Report

Former garda press officer says he shouldn't have been put in police cell

Date
2018-05-16

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

In a Charleton tribunal hearing, former Garda press officer Superintendent David Taylor denied that he was directed by former Commissioner Martin Callinan to brief journalists negatively about Sgt Maurice McCabe's 2006 sexual‑assault allegation. Taylor said he had been instructed to mention that McCabe was motivated by revenge and that the allegation was a "smear campaign." He claimed he had clarified to reporters that the DPP had not prosecuted the case and that the narrative was "there was no smoke without fire." Taylor also testified that the campaign ended when Callinan left office and that he had been moved from the press office to the traffic division, a transfer he described as a "fall from grace." He argued that he should not have been placed in a police cell after an inquiry into Garda leaks, stating he was not a flight risk and that custody was unnecessary. No other Garda officials confirmed Callinan's alleged direction.