{"id":134938,"date":"2025-11-12T00:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T00:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/134938\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T00:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T00:55:10","slug":"five-gardai-on-trial-over-alleged-attempts-to-quash-road-traffic-prosecutions-court-told-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/134938\/","title":{"rendered":"Five garda\u00ed on trial over alleged attempts to quash road traffic prosecutions, court told \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A case against a retired superintendent and four garda\u00ed<\/a> centres around motorists allegedly asking garda\u00ed to intervene in potential or pending road traffic prosecutions, jurors have heard.<\/p>\n

The five accused are alleged to have been involved in attempts to quash potential or pending road traffic prosecutions against motorists in the midwest region.<\/p>\n

All five have pleaded not guilty at Limerick<\/a> Circuit Criminal Court to a total of 39 offences of attempting to pervert the course of justice. They are retired superintendent Eamon O\u2019Neill; serving sergeants Michelle Leahy and Anne-Marie Hassett; Garda Tom McGlinchey and Garda Colm Geary, all within Limerick and Clare Garda divisions.<\/p>\n

Outlining the prosecution\u2019s case, senior counsel Carl Hanahoe told the jury of eight men and four women that the road traffic laws or rules of the road were designed as a deterrent \u201cto keep each of us safe on the roads\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is not unusual for motorists to \u201chave picked up a mobile phone while driving, or been distracted and driven 55km\/h or 60km\/h in a 50km\/h zone, but we take the points. We don\u2019t like it, but that is the system and we take it\u201d, Mr Hanahoe said.<\/p>\n

Mr Hanahoe said a motorist receives a fixed charge penalty notice (FCPN) in the post notifying them they are liable for a fine and penalty points on their driving licence.<\/p>\n

Motorists who receive such a notice can pay the fine and take penalty points, appeal it to a \u201ccancelling authority\u201d or contest the matter in court.<\/p>\n

Mr Hanahoe said the prosecution\u2019s case centres on the seizure and analysis of the phones of the accused.<\/p>\n

Mr Hanahoe referenced a number of charges against Mr O\u2019Neill, who retired in November 2020, relating to motorists who were allegedly detected committing road traffic offences, including speeding, holding a mobile phone while driving, driving without insurance or not wearing a seat belt. The prosecution alleges the motorists contacted Mr O\u2019Neill, who in turn contacted the other accused in an attempt to terminate the motorists\u2019 potential or pending FCPNs.<\/p>\n

In one of the charges, it is alleged Mr O\u2019Neill advised a motorist to nominate another person as having been the driver of the vehicle for the suspected road traffic offence. This was allegedly so they could avoid receiving penalty points.<\/p>\n

Mr Hanahoe alleged: \u201cWhat all of the offences have in common, the prosecution say, is the interference or involvement of Eamon O\u2019Neill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prosecuting barrister said the other four accused became involved in allegedly attempting to \u201cinterfere in the course of justice\u201d through Mr O\u2019Neill\u2019s alleged involvement.<\/p>\n

Mr Hanahoe further alleged that the \u201cvast majority\u201d of the alleged attempts to pervert the course of justice involved a \u201cpersonal connection between the motorist and Supt O\u2019Neill\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ought not to matter what connection you have; that should not determine whether or not you take the penalty points or influence the prosecution of the offence,\u201d Mr Hanahoe said.<\/p>\n

Supt Bl\u00e1ith\u00edn Moran, of the Garda Roads Policing Bureau, Phoenix Park, Dublin, told the court her role entitles her to legitimately cancel FCPNs after considering motorists\u2019 appeals.<\/p>\n

Supt Moran said she would travel to the FCPN cancelling authority, in Thurles, Co Tipperary, every fortnight to physically examine the notices and determine the outcome of the appeals process.<\/p>\n

She said FCPNs can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances, including, for example, if the driver provides proof of being exempt from wearing a seat belt while driving due to a medical condition.<\/p>\n

Supt Moran said she would not personally adjudicate on FCPN appeal requests if she knew the motorist involved as she felt this would be a \u201cconflict of interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Under cross examination, Supt Moran agreed with Felix McEnroy, senior counsel for Eamon O\u2019Neill, that she held a discretionary role when adjudicating the outcome of FCPNs.<\/p>\n

She said all Garda members can use their discretion when dealing with members of the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscretion is on a case-by-case basis. We are a community police force,\u201d Supt Moran said.<\/p>\n

The trial, before Judge Roderick Maguire, is expected to last for at least six weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A case against a retired superintendent and four garda\u00ed centres around motorists allegedly asking garda\u00ed to intervene in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,15469,61,60,1396,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-134938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-clare","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-limerick","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}