Courts / Wicklow / Report
DPP officer unable to find case file on priest detective was investigating, forgery trial hears
Summary
During a two‑week trial at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Detective Garda Catherine McGowan, aged 48, pleaded not guilty to forging a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dated 14 January 2009. The letter was alleged to be a false instrument used to influence a case involving a priest accused of child abuse. On the third day of the trial, DPP officer Henry Matthews testified that he could not locate any case file for the priest in question, despite a request in July 2011 to check the DPP's filing system. Legal secretary Caroline Halstead confirmed that no records of the priest existed between 2005 and 2009 in either manual or computerised filing systems. The complainant had earlier stated that McGowan claimed to have sent a file to the DPP, which was not pursued.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: DPP officer unable to find case file on priest detective was investigating, forgery trial hears. Charges or matters: one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011. Procedural stage: trial
When:
- January 15, 2009 Other
- June 21 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 14, 2009 Hearing Or Sentence
- July 2011 Incident
- 2005 and 2009 Incident
- 2015-02-25 Publication
Case subjects
Accused
Charges: one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011 (Alleged Or Contested)
Plea: Not guilty
Places mentioned
- is based at Bray Garda Station
- Bray
- at Bray Garda Station
- false instrument at Bray Garda Station
- and at Harcourt Street Garda Station
- Harcourt Street
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
Topics
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