Garda Investigation and Intimidation

national | miscellaneous | news report Sunday May 19, 2002 21:18 by Oly sixforafiver at hotmail dot com

Warning to other people who have made complaints, that they may be under surveillance and may face intimidation.

I was hospitalised on May 6th and required stitches to my head. I made a complaint the following day and found legal representation. Last Thursday, my solicitor warned me that the Gardai have also set up a group of detectives in Dublin Castle who don’t seem to be concentrating on ‘complaints’, as they may pretend to be, but damage limitation. They may be involved in logging or receiving records of dialled and received numbers on your phone, possibly text messages etc. and that these records could go back a few months. So if you think this information may concern you, take note.

If you have already made a complaint to the Gardai and they wish to take a separate statement from you, ensure that it is only for the complaints procedure, and nothing more. Try to have a solicitor with you if possible. The Gardai may ask to meet up with you, saying it is for the complaint, but it can be for something else entirely. Any statements you give them which aren’t for the complaints procedure can be used against you. If you have reason to doubt that the statement will not be used for complaint purposes, refuse to give one. If you are sure it is for the complaint, stick to Yes and No answers to their questions as much as possible. Do not give them any more details then they already know, as they already have your original statement. Make sure they have it in front of them, and you can see a copy. Ensure that the statement they write down cannot be twisted or construed as to mean something else. If you are not happy with the statement, point out what you want changed. Do not sign it unless you are completely happy.

On Friday (May 17th) I took this photo. The riot van shown was sitting outside my flat for an hour and a half with its engine on. I live in a quiet street in South Dublin, and you rarely see a Garda on patrol in the area, so this was very unusual. What’s even more unusual was that neither the driver nor the other Garda are wearing their shoulder ID. The Garda who was outside the van kept pacing up and down along the road while looking up at my window every so often. After seeing me take some photographs of them they drove off. This was completely out of the ordinary, and is obviously a form of intimidation. Only one photo came out, and it’s not the best, but see what you think. You can just about make out he has no number, but, I admit, its not very clear. If anyone else has similar experiences, post it on to this website. Show them that we cannot be intimidated, and we will get the truth out. It is ridiculous how we get beaten, complain and end up under investigation. I suppose that when the Garda Commisioner Pat Byrne promised the public ‘A full and thorough investigation’, he meant an investigation into the victims. 14 civilians hospitalised; only one Garda off the streets, and he still gets a desk job. This is Irish Justice in all its sick glory. Let’s change it.

Oly