‘My gang is bigger than their gang’: Harris pledges to pursue organised crime after Regency trial

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is set to meet Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Catherine Pierse, in the wake of the acquittal of Gerard Hutch for the 2016 Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne.

Mr Harris has also defended the Garda force following the trial, though he declined to explain why Hutch was not charged with firearms offences, or other gang-related crimes, connected with the Regency attack rather than a murder charge.

In its ruling last week, the Special Criminal Court judges said they accepted beyond reasonable doubt that, after the 2016 attack, Hutch was in control of the AK47s used by the gunmen, implying charges other than murder could have been explored.

[ Garda Commissioner heckled, jeered during speech at Garda conference ]

Mr Harris said the Garda conducted investigations and then made recommendations to the DPP’s office about the nature of charges that could be pursued against suspects, with the DPP making the final decision. However, the discussions between the Garda force and the DPP’s office in the Hutch case were not something he could discuss in public, he said.

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When it was put to Mr Harris that further charges arising from the Regency attack seven years ago were now unlikely, he said the investigation was continuing, that other charges could be brought against the Hutch gang and that the Garda’s drive against crime gangs generally would be relentless.

“I might say these gangs have some notoriety, but my gang is bigger than their gang and we’ll keep working away at this,” Mr Harris said of the Garda’s approach to organised crime despite the “setback” of the Hutch trial and acquittal.

“When you’re taking a case in a criminal justice forum, one can’t expect every time you’re going to get a guilty verdict, in effect that would not be a criminal justice process,” he said. “Evidence is tested to its extreme, beyond all reasonable doubt. It’s put under huge pressure and therefore then there are convictions but there are also acquittals, that’s the process.”

[ Regency murder trial: Gerard Hutch acquittal puts Special Criminal Court under spotlight ]

Mr Harris was speaking to the media at the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in Westport, Co Mayo, on Tuesday. He also discussed the current controversy for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc), one of whose senior investigators told colleagues he had attended a party in Dublin for Hutch just hours after his acquittal last week.

When asked if he still had confidence in Gsoc in the wake of the controversy, Mr Harris said: “Yes I do.” He added he had been in contact with the commissioners who lead Gsoc, saying they were anxious for the Garda to examine the controversy and determine if any criminal matters may arise that require investigation.

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

“We have appointed the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) to look at this matter and they are now examining the records within Gsoc, the circumstances of this, to see if there is any potential criminality,” Mr Harris said. He would report to Minister for Justice Simon Harris when that NBCI examination was concluded and a file would be sent to the DPP, if necessary.

The case is believed to be the first time the Garda has been asked to examine the conduct of any Gsoc investigator. Gsoc is a Garda watchdog body which investigates complaints made about Garda members; from minor issues such as discourtesy to serious crimes. Many of the allegations investigated come from members of the public.

Gsoc investigators have the same powers as Garda members, including the power of arrest and compiling files for the DPP and recommending criminal prosecutions. However, there are effectively no formal oversight procedures in place for Gsoc relating to the quality of the agency’s work or the conduct of its personnel.

At the conference, the GRA assistant general secretary Tara McManus said bullying was rife in the Garda force and that an internal study by her association found one in four Garda members was suffering PTSD. Ms McManus further stated many gardaí resigning from their jobs were making the decision to leave because they had been bullied and were stressed. She added one member who left the Garda said it was like leaving an abusive partner or toxic relationship.

Mr Harris questioned if one in four Garda members had PTSD, adding a cultural audit taken within the Garda had found “very positive relationships” within the force, between gardaí and with supervisors.