Courts / Wicklow / Report

Retired Chief Supt tells trial of garda accused of forging letter that a lot of things in case "shocked" him

Summary

At the trial of Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, she has pleaded not guilty to 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. The alleged false instrument is a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14, 2009, directing that there be no prosecution in the clerical abuse case. Retired Chief Supt Thomas Conway testified that it was not unusual for McGowan not to be asked to report on the progress of the clerical abuse investigation for four years. He stated that a lot of things in relation to the case shocked him, but he did not find it shocking that Detective Sergeant Eamonn O'Neill did not ask about the case. Judge Mary Ellen Ring asked Conway if there was a system for auditing cases dealt with by gardai, to which he said there should be a system, but in this case, it was closed off after the original 2005 investigation and the new case was not recorded in PULSE. The trial continues before Judge Mary Ellen Ring and a jury of six men and six women.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Retired Chief Supt tells trial of garda accused of forging letter that a lot of things in case "shocked" him. 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 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 21 Hearing Or Sentence
• January 14, 2009 Hearing Or Sentence
• July 5 2011 Other
• July 6 Other
• July 6th Hearing Or Sentence
• June 2011 Other
• June 24 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2007 and 2011 Incident
• 2015-03-05 Publication

Why: "I instructed her to go and get a better copy, because there were lots of blobs in it," he said. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial

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Read the original CNI report