Gardai face another Donegal style situation.

national | crime and justice | news report Tuesday September 21, 2004 13:15 by Moonwolf

Girlfriend exposes violent behaviour and corruption

Emerging information in Louth/Meath division may herald another Donegal type situation as disenchanted former girlfriend threatens to spill the beans.

A senior member of the Garda Siochana in the Louth/Meath division is currently under investigation regarding a serious assault alleged to have taken place in Dundalk earlier this year. The married Garda is alleged to have severely beaten his long time girlfriend, who had to be hospitalised as a result of the incident, after a night out. She later made a complaint of assault against him and the incident is currently under investigation by Detectives from Harcourt Street. This is not the first complaint of this nature to have been made against this garda. A number of previous complaints of a similar nature were received by his own division in the past however no action was taken after the woman was persuaded by local Gardai not to pursue the case.The garda involved was also the subject of reports in the national media some years ago when it emerged that he had been stopped by a young garda for speeding and found to be drunk .The garda who stopped him did not issue any proceedings. It was believed at the time that this decision not to prosecute was as a result of directive from superior officers

The victim of the alleged assault is causing some consternation among garda authorities at present as she also alleges that she was privy to information regarding the tampering with evidence in a recent high profile murder case where her former boyfriend was one of the main state witnesses. She alleges that the gardai lost or misplaced evidence and replaced it with items they purchased themselves in order to cover up their error.

in a case reminiscent of recent events in Donegal it would seem that the allegations emerging at present may be only the tip of the iceberg and if shown to be true could further damage the reputation of an Garda Siochana and necessitate yet another Tribunal of Inquiry.