Disciplinary finding against Garda over alleged racist remark quashed

The High Court has made a consent order quashing a disciplinary finding made against a Garda arising from a claim a racist remark was made to a teenager detained for allegedly calling gardaí­ "f***ing pigs" and shouting "there's a smell of bacon" at them.

Garda Noel Gibbons, who strongly denied making a racist remark, brought High Court proceedings arising out of the finding of an internal Garda investigation that he breached garda discipline.

He was fined €200 and informed that the final decision rested with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc).

Garda Gibbons, stationed at Pearse Street in Dublin, brought the judicial review proceedings against the Garda commissioner, Gsoc, the Minister for Justice and the State. He claimed the entire investigation process concerning the allegation against him was fundamentally flawed and he was treated unfairly.

Mr Justice Seamus Noonan was informed on Tuesday by Keith Spencer, instructed by Donal Quigley Solicitors, that the case had been resolved. Counsel said it had been agreed between the parties that the finding of breach of discipline could be quashed and the fine no longer stands.

Garda Gibbons would not be subject of any further disciplinary actions in respect of this matter and Gsoc’s records have been accordingly updated, it was further agreed.

Public order

The Garda had consistently denied the 14-year-old boy's allegation of making a racist remark after the teenager was arrested in June 2017 and taken to a Dublin Garda station. The boy allegedly became verbally abusive when two gardaí­ were dealing with a hostile public order situation in Temple Bar with three known drug abusers.

The boy was said to have approached the scene and allegedly made derogatory comments. Following the teen’s arrest by Garda Gibbons’ colleague, the boy said he would “make a complaint”, would “make stuff up about this” and his father would have the garda’s job, the court was told.

The boy claimed the gardaí­ used racist language towards him, including calling him a “n****r” and said one of the gardaí­ may have used the word “monkey”. The teen, who is of eastern Asian descent, cannot be named for legal reasons.

Garda Gibbons denied making any racist comment but said he recalled telling the boy, following his arrest, he should “not be acting the monkey around town”. That remark was intended to warn a young man about interfering with an arrest by verbally abusing gardaí, he said.

Following the incident, a complaint was made on the teen’s behalf about Garda Gibbons’ colleague. Garda Gibbons said, arising out of the complaint, he was also made the subject of an internal investigation. While his colleague was cleared of any wrongdoing, Garda Gibbons claimed he was found to have breached Garda discipline and was fined €200.

Morphed

He claimed what started off as an investigation into a more minor alleged breach of discipline had morphed into something more serious. He said he was denied rights to have a legal representative with him during the disciplinary hearing and to cross-examine witnesses to the events at the centre of the complaint.

He claimed witness statements from several individuals concerning the teen’s arrest showed clear conflicts of facts, he was not given a report of the initial disciplinary investigation and findings were made against him without any reasons being given. The continuation of this process was unfair and in breach of his rights, it was argued.