The High Court has refused to prohibit a Garda disciplinary inquiry from continuing after a District Court dismissed a criminal possession charge against the officer. The inquiry may proceed on three remaining allegations, the court ruled, because they were different in character from the possession charge and would not reopen the issue decided in the criminal case.
Patrick Walsh, a Garda working in the IT Section at Garda Headquarters, sought judicial review of the Commissioner’s decision to continue the inquiry. The allegations arose from events at the Electric Picnic concert in Stradbally, County Laois, on 2 September 2007. It was alleged that Walsh struggled with security staff during a search, identified himself as a Garda and used abusive language to a superior officer. The search produced no drugs.
The original disciplinary notification listed four allegations: possessing amphetamine, failing to submit to a drugs search, improperly identifying himself as a Garda when required to submit to the search, and using abusive and insulting language to Sergeant Sylvester Murphy. A District Court judge dismissed the criminal possession charge on 26 November 2008, at the close of the prosecution case, after granting an application for a direction. The Commissioner then directed that the first disciplinary allegation would not be tried. The inquiry was to continue on the other three.
Walsh argued that continuing the inquiry would be unfair and oppressive because it arose from the same events and the Board had already received material concerning the possession allegation. He also argued that the Commissioner could not withdraw one allegation while allowing the rest of the inquiry to continue, and that the remaining matters should instead be dealt with under the regulations for less serious breaches.
The respondents submitted that the remaining allegations raised different issues from the criminal charge. They argued that the regulations permitted the Commissioner to withdraw the possession allegation and continue with the others.
President of the High Court Kearns held that the remaining allegations were not the same as, or identical to, the possession charge. They did not require a determination on possession and would not risk undoing the District Court’s decision. Although the inquiry would need to consider statements about the events and the concert’s search arrangements, the judge rejected the claim that this made the inquiry unfair or that the Board could not distinguish between the allegations.
The court also held that the Commissioner could lawfully withdraw one disciplinary allegation without stopping and restarting the process. It refused the relief sought. The judgment did not decide whether any of the remaining allegations had been proved; they remained for the Board of Inquiry.