A former garda, who accepted bribes from the murderers of Veronica Guerin, Brian Meehan and Paul Ward, has had the balance of his sentence suspended by Judge Kevin Haugh in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
John O'Neill had been jailed for 4 1/2 years by Judge Cyril Kelly on April 3rd, 1998, on charges that he received £16,100 in bribes from Meehan, Ward and five others.
An application from Mr Brendan Grogan SC, defending, to review the sentence yesterday, when O'Neill had served 18 months of the sentence, was granted.
O'Neill, married and a father of three children, of Kingswood Heights, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to the charges.
He received 13 sentences of 4 1/2 years on charges under the 1990 ethics legislation and three of 18 months in relation to charges made under 1906 legislation.
He was awarded the Scott medal for bravery in 1990 when he pursued, confronted and arrested an armed robber who pointed a shotgun at him.
Two other men, who pleaded guilty in April 1998 to giving O'Neill £5,000, intending to corrupt him as a member of An Garda Siochana, were fined £45,000 each by Judge Kelly.
He gave them three months to pay or 12 months' imprisonment in default.
Derek O'Driscoll (24), with addresses in Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, and Anthony Long (42), of Camac Park, Bluebell, were described then by Det Insp Thomas O'Loughlin as "unemployed men of affluence".
Both had previous convictions. Insp O'Loughlin said Long had been given a seven-year sentence in England in 1993 for having a firearm with intent.
He said O'Driscoll had no difficulty paying £5,000 to O'Neill, who had approached Long looking for a loan. Both men also videotaped the handing over of the money to O'Neill in Long's garage.
The Probation Act was applied at that hearing in the case of Patrick Ward (43), The Wood, Millbrook Lawns, Tallaght, who admitted giving O'Neill £100 between June 1st and July 31st, 1996, to have a Road Traffic Act summons against one of his employees withdrawn.
Patrick Ward was described by Det Insp O'Loughlin as a law-abiding and hard-working man with no previous convictions.
Judge Kelly directed he pay £1,000 to the Garda Benevolent Fund. The four men originally pleaded not guilty in March 1998 to 26 charges.
He discharged the jury two days later when the State accepted guilty pleas to 19 charges.