Courts / Ireland / Report

Garda homicide stats whistleblower tells tribunal that 'nothing was learned'

Summary

Lois West, a former deputy head of the Garda Siochana Analysis Service, has testified before a tribunal that she believes no lessons were learned from her whistleblowing on Garda homicide data errors. West and analyst Laura Galligan publicly raised concerns in 2018 about misclassification of homicides in the Garda PULSE database, citing 16 cases that should have been reclassified and other data quality issues. They reported that investigations into some cases were inadequate, with some deaths recorded as sudden deaths for years despite extensive homicide investigations. West described internal review meetings in 2017 as "extremely challenging" and claimed she and Galligan were belittled and pressured to sign off on a report that excluded their input. She escalated concerns to Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan and the Policing Authority, which she says lacked authority. West maintains that families remain in distress because they cannot learn what happened to their loved ones.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Garda homicide stats whistleblower tells tribunal that 'nothing was learned'. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• March 2018 Other
• 27 April 2017 Other
• 2013 to 2015 Other
• 2025-11-05 Publication

Why: Garda whistleblower Lois West has told a tribunal she believes "nothing was learned" after she and a colleague went public over errors in the force's homicide data and that there are still families in distress "because they can't find out what happened to their loved ones". CNI source report

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report