The Court of Appeal has dismissed a man’s appeals against High Court orders striking out his claims against Garda BW and the Health Service Executive over their investigation of allegations that he sexually abused his young daughter.
The judgment, delivered by the President on 9 February 2018, concerned preliminary applications to dismiss the proceedings. The Court of Appeal upheld the orders made by Binchy J. and O’Regan J. It dismissed the appeals; it did not decide the underlying allegation of abuse or make a finding that the man had committed it.
The man, identified in the judgment as Mr K, said his wife had made false allegations and that the investigation damaged his reputation and relationship with his daughter. The judgment records that his wife made a written, signed complaint to Garda BW in September 2007. The Garda referred the matter to the HSE, which investigated it. A Family Centre assessment was described in material relied on by Mr K as “inconclusive however, concerns remain that sexual abuse may have occurred”. Specialist Garda officers later interviewed the child.
Garda BW arrested Mr K on 15 September 2009 under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 and arranged for him to be interviewed in custody. He was released without charge. The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that there should be no prosecution in March 2010, and Garda officers informed Mr K of that decision later that month. The judgment described the combined HSE and Garda enquiries as lasting about 28 months.
Mr K argued that the investigation was one-sided and too long, that there was no reasonable basis to suspect him, and that he had not been told in advance that he would be arrested. He also alleged that his wife had influenced the child’s account. The Garda and HSE denied wrongdoing. The Court of Appeal said there was no factual basis to infer malice by either body, which it identified as an essential element of a claim for misconduct in public office. It also held that negligence claims could not succeed on the circumstances before it.
On the arrest, the court concluded that the complaint and information gathered during the investigation gave Garda BW reasonable grounds to suspect Mr K and question him under the statutory procedure. It said his lack of advance notice of the arrest could not, in those circumstances, establish false arrest or false imprisonment. The court also found that the HSE had not barred access to his daughter and had recommended supervised access during the investigation. It said access disputes could be brought before the courts.
The judgment concluded that the essential facts were not in dispute and that the claims against Garda BW and the HSE were bound to fail. The separate claims against the man’s wife and daughter were not the subject of these appeals.