Garda told to resign or face dismissal over porn video

A serving garda who ended up on a pornographic website after he was filmed engaging in a sexual act with a woman on the bonnet of a Garda car has been told by Garda management to either resign from the force or face dismissal.

The officer, who is in his 30s and based in Munster, was the subject of a Garda investigation after the woman, using the name Carla4Garda, posted footage of them engaging in a sexual act on the car bonnet on pornographic website Pornhub in early 2017.

The footage went viral and came to the attention of the Garda authorities who appointed a team of detectives from a different Garda division to investigate the incident which happened when the officer was off duty and took a marked Garda patrol car without authorisation.

It is understood that the officer also borrowed a Garda jacket which he was wearing when he filmed himself engaging in the sex act with the woman, which took place on the patrol car in a business park some 25km from where he was stationed.

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The video, which had more than 11,000 hits before it was removed, features a woman identified as Carla being handcuffed by an officer in a Garda jacket who then reads her her rights before she performs a sex act on him on the bonnet of the Garda car.

The woman later told The Irish Sun how she met the garda: “Everyone deserves a break and they can do what they like on their break. I messaged the garda and asked him if he wanted to make a video and he was well game. We came to an understanding that his face would not be shown and that he would not be identified in any way.”

Internal review

The officer, who admitted to investigators that he was the man in the video, was transferred to another station in the same division following the incident. He was subsequently the subject of an internal disciplinary review by senior Garda management and the review group issued its findings last month.

According to informed sources, the review team, which was appointed by Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan and included a barrister and a solicitor to review, recommended that the officer be disciplined with what was described as "a hefty fine", understood to be up to four weeks' wages.

However, The Irish Times has learned that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has the option of not implementing the disciplinary review recommendation but can instead exercise a requirement to resign or face dismissal, and it is understood this is what has been offered to the officer by his superiors.

According to Garda Representative Association (GRA) sources, it is open to the officer to appeal the decision by way of a judicial review in order to save his job with the GRA considering each case on its merits before it decides to support an officer through a High Court process that can cost tens of thousands of euros.

One Garda source said: “He was very fortunate not to face criminal charges for unlawful taking of the Garda car as he had no permission to do so; giving him the option to resign or face dismissal reflects the new thinking on disciplinary matters since Drew Harris took over as commissioner.”

Asked about the matter, the Garda Press Office said the Garda did not comment on internal discipline matters.