The High Court has rejected a Clonmel-based garda’s challenge to his summary dismissal following a drink-driving conviction in which he was recorded at more than four times the legal alcohol limit.
John English, a serving member of An Garda Síochána with a 17-year career, was convicted at Cashel District Court in May 2023 over an incident on August 14, 2022. His breath-alcohol reading was 95 microgrammes per 100 millilitres, against a legal limit of 22. He was fined €500 and disqualified from driving for three years.
In February 2024, the Garda Commissioner informed English that he proposed to dismiss him under Regulation 39 of the Garda Síochána (Discipline) Regulations 2007, a procedure permitting summary dismissal where the material facts are not in doubt, the breach is sufficiently serious and an inquiry could not alter the decision.
English made two sets of written submissions, arguing among other things that dismissal was disproportionate, that more material should have been disclosed and that a Board of Inquiry should be appointed. He also relied on a Garda directive identifying factors capable of aggravating drink-driving incidents.
The Commissioner ultimately decided that English was unfit for retention, placing particular weight on the high level of intoxication, his criminal conviction, road safety and the effect on public confidence. The Policing Authority consented to dismissal in December 2024.
Mr Justice Sean Gillane held that English knew clearly the factual basis for the proposed dismissal and had been given adequate opportunities to respond. The judge found no unlawful predetermination or fettering of the Commissioner’s discretion.
The court also rejected the argument based on the later Garda directive, noting that the offence predated it and that the level of intoxication was itself listed as an aggravating factor.
The judicial review reliefs were refused. The court proposed awarding costs to the respondents, subject to a seven-day opportunity for further submissions.