Claim Gsoc member attended Hutch acquittal party referred to An Garda Síochána

The Garda is examining claims a Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) investigator attended a celebration for Gerard Hutch last Monday just hours after the criminal was acquitted by the Special Criminal Court of the 2016 Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne.

While Gsoc has commenced an investigation into the matter and has prepared a report for Minister for Justice Simon Harris, the ombudsman commission has also requested a Garda inquiry into the claims which emerged early last week. That Garda inquiry is being carried out by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), the force’s serious crimes squad, though no criminal allegation is yet to emerge in relation to last week’s incident.

Sources said detectives from the NBCI had already contacted the former Gsoc investigator and had spoken to him. It is expected he will be interviewed again in the coming days.

The Gsoc investigator, who had access to the Garda’s Pulse database as part of his job investigating Garda wrongdoing, told some of his colleagues he had been at a social gathering for Hutch last Monday night. His colleagues were very surprised by the claim he had been socialising with a known criminal after such a high-profile trial. They brought the matter to the attention of more senior officials in Gsoc.

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‘Serious matter’

The investigator, who was nearing the end of his career, was then told by Gsoc an inquiry was being commenced into his claims and that he would be suspended and his phone taken for examination. However, the investigator resigned and news of the matter did not emerge until Friday, several days after his resignation.

The matter is regarded as very serious as it raises issues around the investigator’s judgment and what contacts he had, if any, with members of the Hutch family before he claimed to have attended Hutch’s celebration at a property in north Dublin last Monday night.

The man who resigned last week worked for Gsoc for several years, including on the inquiry into the death, by suicide, of Det Supt Colm Fox, who led the Garda inquiry into the Regency Hotel attack.

Minister for Justice Simon Harris, in a statement on Monday evening, confirmed he had now received the report from Gsoc “regarding the serious matter which has arisen in recent days”.

The statement, issued by the Department of Justice on his behalf, added the Minister “notes that Gsoc has now referred the matter to An Garda Síochána to establish if any concerns of a criminal nature arise”.

Mr Harris believed “this is the appropriate course of action to ensure that public confidence is maintained in Gsoc” and said he could now not comment any further as the matter was now with the Garda.

‘Oversight’

Gsoc said on Monday it submitted a report to the Minister outlining the action it had taken to date concerning the resignation of a member of our staff.

“When Gsoc became aware last week of a potential conflict of interest involving a member of our staff, we immediately removed that member’s access to our systems and commenced an initial internal investigation. The staff member in question resigned shortly thereafter.

“Gsoc engaged at a senior level with the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána and continues to do so. We took these steps promptly in response to the disclosure of a potential conflict of interest so as to preserve the integrity of our systems and facilitate proper investigation of all matters relating to this.

“It is not Gsoc’s policy to investigate itself and we see independent investigation as integral to proper oversight, due process and fairness.

“It is of paramount importance to establish whether any concerns of a criminal nature arise. This is a matter for An Garda Síochána in the first instance and Gsoc is co-operating with them in their examination of the matter and will co-operate with any investigation that they deem necessary.

“Gsoc is committed to ensuring that any further investigation into this matter that may prove necessary is carried out independently, to ensure that public confidence in the oversight of policing in Ireland is both fostered and maintained.”