Suspended garda says failure to establish truth in case ‘inexcusable’

A failure to establish the truth behind the reasons for a garda superintendent’s suspension from the force is inexcusable, the High Court has heard.

The claim was made on behalf of Supt Edmund Anthony O’Neill (53), who is based at Roxboro Road in Limerick. He says the allegations over which he was suspended a year ago are false and “”preposterous and mischievous in the extreme”.

He was arrested and questioned over claims that he leaked confidential information and was in the presence of another officer who allegedly took cocaine in a pub.

Supt O’Neill is seeking an order requiring the Garda Commissioner and the State to lift the suspension, first imposed in May of last year and extended a number of times since, so that when he is medically fit to do so, he can return to duty.

The defendants oppose the application.

Opening the hearing of an injunction application aimed at restraining the continued suspension, Louis McEntagart SC, with Breffni Gordon BL, said despite a large amount of correspondence with the defendants there had still not been a serious effort to establish the truth, even though it is public policy that allegations such as this be dealt with expeditiously.

‘Shambolic’

In his action, Supt O’Neill says he was arrested after he awoke in his bedroom on the morning of May 15th last year and found several gardaí around him. He was taken to Athlone Garda station where he was questioned during what he described as a “shambolic” interview process.

There were headlines in the national media that day about the arrest and he was later released and served with a suspension notice.

It was alleged that he told a garda being investigated by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation that a listening device had been placed on his car. That garda has since been charged with serious criminal conduct.

Supt O’Neill says he never did so and fully co-operated with an investigation in relation to the alleged leak. It was also alleged he was present in the Hurler’s Bar in Limerick on January 9th, 2019, where a garda inspector was alleged to have taken cocaine in his presence.

In relation to that allegation, he says the other officer never took cocaine and was “the least likely candidate to take or ingest an illicit substance”.

CCTV camera footage showed that the height of what is alleged against the other officer is that he is seen wiping his nose, he says. He says the officer has not been charged and it was reasonable to conclude there was no evidence of cocaine use.

The case continues before Mr Justice Senan Allen.