Paul Moody no longer a member of An Garda Síochána after conviction for coercive control

Paul Moody, who was jailed this week for abusing his terminally-ill partner over a four-year period, is no longer a garda.

Garda headquarters confirmed on Wednesday the 42 year old is no longer a member of the force.

It did not specify whether Moody was dismissed or if he resigned. However, it is understood he stepped down in advance of a disciplinary process which was all but certain to result in his dismissal.

An internal Garda review of members of the force’s involvement in domestic and gender-based violence is ongoing. The review was launched in early 2022, partly in response to Moody’s arrest on 35 charges including assault, criminal damage, harassment and threats to kill.

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Moody later pleaded guilty to a single charge of coercive control for which he received a sentence of three years and three months on Tuesday.

Another garda, who is currently on suspension, is also facing charges of coercive violence over an 11-year period. The offence was introduced in 2019 and has seen an handful of convictions to date.

It emerged last year that at least 21 gardaí had been subject to domestic violence orders since 2019.

A Garda spokesman said the internal review is covering a two-year period. He said it is aimed at ensuring the Garda “is providing a best practice response to all victims of gender-based violence in line with international experience and that all victims can feel empowered and safe in reporting gender-based violence incidents to An Garda Síochána.”

[ Paul Moody: His conviction has seriously damaged the reputation of An Garda Síochána ]

[ Garda jailed for coercive control of terminally ill partner over four-year period ]

The manner in which domestic violence orders are recorded on the Garda Pulse computer system makes it almost impossible to determine the occupation of the suspect, including if they are members of the force. This means management must rely on individual gardaí to come forward.

Part of the current review is examining whether gardaí are failing to disclose if they are subject to domestic violence orders.

Earlier, president of the Garda Representative Association Brendan O’Connor said the pension rights of convicted gardaí “warrants examination”.

Mr O’Connor was speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland following Moody’s sentencing.

On the same programme, Women’s Aid chief executive Sarah Benson said reflection on the sentencing for coercive control crimes “may be needed”. The maximum term for the crime is five years.

Ms Benson paid tribute to the victim for her strength in coming forward to report the abuse, and said it was not an isolated case. She said she would urge anyone in a situation of coercive control to seek help. This conviction showed them that they would be believed.

She said coercive control was about a pattern of behaviour. Individual actions might look minimal, but added together the effect was that they wore the victim down and in the end had a huge impact.

When asked about the length of the sentence, Ms Benson said that “perhaps” a higher length of sentence should be considered.

Mr O’Connor said Garda members had been shocked and appalled at what the victim had suffered. The judge had summed it up well when he expressed concern that a serving member had been involved in such crimes, on the other hand it was members of the force who had pursued the case, he added.

The message he wanted to get across was that victims should come forward, that they would be believed and their case would be pursued — “your rights will be vindicated. Justice will be served.” In this case, once the victim had reported the crimes there had been a very thorough investigation, he said.

Because of the actions of Moody there would now be more scrutiny of access to the Pulse system, any weaknesses would be addressed and members (of the force) would be held to account.

It was members of the force who had pursued this case, determined that they would “root out this criminality”.

Asked about public concerns that Moody would retain his pension, Mr O’Connor said he could understand such thinking, but any change would require legislation. It was very important justice be seen to be done and the issue of pension rights was something that needed to be looked at.

“It’s certainly something that needs to be looked at going forward, it warrants examination,” he said.