The High Court has rejected a challenge by Westport Garda Sergeant Denis Harrington to disciplinary advice issued over his supervision of an investigation into a fatal road traffic collision.
The case arose from a crash involving a car and motorcycle at Knockbrack, Westport, on 14 October 2004. Motorcyclist Kevin McAndrew was seriously injured and died in hospital on 25 October.
Harrington had supervisory responsibilities but was also working on a separate fatal shooting investigation at the time. The file concerning the collision was ultimately sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in April 2005. The DPP initially considered careless driving and a provisional-licence offence against the car driver, Ruairí Comer, but ultimately directed prosecution only for driving unaccompanied while holding a provisional licence.
Kevin McAndrew’s mother made a formal complaint in July 2006 about aspects of the Garda investigation. Although her complaint was deemed out of time under the Garda Síochána Complaints Act 1986, a disciplinary investigation followed.
Harrington was notified in January 2007 that his supervision was under investigation. Assistant Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan later concluded that formal disciplinary proceedings were unnecessary but that a minor breach had occurred. Harrington received written advice in February 2008 stating that he had failed to supervise the investigation adequately.
Harrington challenged that decision, arguing that the process had been excessively delayed, that Regulation 7 of the Garda disciplinary rules had been wrongly used without an oral hearing and that the finding was irrational.
Mr Justice O’Neill rejected each argument. He calculated the relevant disciplinary process from the July 2006 complaint and found that its roughly 19-month duration was not undue given the investigation involved four Garda members.
The judge also held that Regulation 7 expressly permitted minor breaches to be dealt with informally by advice and did not require a full disciplinary hearing. He found there was sufficient material before Assistant Commissioner O’Sullivan to support the conclusion that Harrington had not adequately discharged his supervisory responsibilities.
The judicial review reliefs were therefore refused.