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BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Limerick Garda breaks silence after acquittal in 'nightmare' corruption case
A Garda has broken his silence over a seven-year long probe led by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) that failed to convince a jury he had done wrong. Speaking after the jury in his eight-day trial returned 'not guilty' verdicts last Friday, vindicated Garda Tom Flavin, Rathkeale Garda Station, said: 'The last seven years have been a nightmare for me and my family.' Advertisement Gda Flavin had denied 22 allegations that he had attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to frustrate criminal prosecutions against individuals, including for driving without insurance. Senior counsel Fiona Murphy, prosecuting in Gda Flavin's trial alleged in court that the evidence would show he had 'sorted out' uninsured drivers by deliberately inputting insurance details into the Garda Pulse computer records system to try to frustrate the potential prosecutions. The jury unanimously disagreed and dismissed the allegations which had flowed from an expensive and top-level GNBC investigation probe that began in 2018. Garda Flavin and his solicitor Dan O'Gorman, have asked why Gda Flavin was brought to trial, when, as his trial heard, there was 'no direct evidence' against him, as it was put by Ms Murphy in court. Advertisement In a statement provided by Mr O'Gorman following the verdicts, Gda Flavin said: 'My elderly unwell parents attended during most of the trial and to witness them in such anxiety and obvious distress will haunt me for a long time.' Garda Flavin said he wished to thank his colleagues as well as members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) 'for all their support'. 'I love and respect my job but I wish that certain quarters would investigate crime in places where crime actually occurs.' 'The whole case asks serious questions of standards and leadership at the upper levels of the Garda force.' Advertisement Near the end of the trial, the jury were directed by trial judge, Colin Daly, to find Gda Flavin not guilty on five of the 22 charges and to deliberate on the remaining 17 counts on the indictment. It took the jury just over three hours to reach unanimous acquittals. In a sharp rebuke of the GNBCI probe, Dan O'Gorman stated: 'Sometime before October 2018 the most equipped and resourced branch of An Garda Síochána, the GNBCI rolled out an investigation of Rathkeale Garda Tom Flavin in relation to the idea that he was perverting the course of justice in preventing certain named individuals being prosecuted for serious driving offences including driving without insurance.' 'The full resources of the investigation were deployed. In October 2018, his family home was searched, personal possessions seized. He was suspended. His reputation was shredded,' Mr O'Gorman said. Calling for an examination of the GNBCI's probe of Gda Flavin, the solicitor added: 'For seven long years he and his family have been in a wasteland of isolation and suspicion Always, he held his head up and protested his innocence. It has been my privilege to have represented him.' Advertisement 'After a trial he has been unanimously acquitted and his journey is over. He is today the man he always was — The innocent Tom Flavin.' 'Serious questions have now to be asked of this elite branch of the Gardaí as to how all of this could have possibly been visited on an innocent man and his family,' Mr O'Gorman added. During the trial Gda Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, had argued that the prosecution had no smoking-gun evidence against Gda Flavin and he asked the jury to dismiss the allegations. Fiona Murphy, prosecuting, had told the jury that the case against Gda Flavin was anchored on 'circumstantial' evidence. Advertisement 'There is no direct evidence, instead the prosecution relies on indirect evidence,' Ms Murphy said. In the statement provided by his solicitor afterwards, Gda Flavin said: 'The whole case asks serious questions of standards and leadership at the upper levels of the Garda force.' Speaking after the trial, Garda Frank Thornton, Garda Representative Association Limerick Division, a former president of the association, said: 'I welcome the jury's verdict as it totally vindicates Garda Flavin of any wrongdoing, but there is now a bigger question that requires an answer: why would it take almost seven years for this case to reach conclusion?' 'This member, like many of his colleagues, has spent years trying to clear his name with a dark cloud of unfair dishonour hanging over him.' Garda Thornton said cases involving Garda members should be dealt with quickly to ensure 'the health and wellbeing of our members, but also to rebuild trust in the communities they serve'.
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jury dismisses allegations Garda 'sorted out' drivers over insurance offences
A serving Garda was today found not guilty by a jury of charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice after allegations he "sorted out" motoring offences for drivers. Garda Tom Flavin was acquitted of a total of 22 counts of allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice by a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court following an eight-day trial. Today the jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on 17 of the charges. Earlier the jury was directed by the trial judge, Colin Daly, to return not guilty verdicts in respect of five counts against Garda Flavin. The long serving and respected Co Limerick Garda, who had consistently denied all of the charges, was supported in court throughout the trial by a large gathering of family, friends and colleagues. On Thursday, Garda Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, urged the jury to acquit the garda of all of the charges, and said there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the accused. Garda Flavin was arrested and charged following an investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) and ultimately accused of knowingly entering false motor insurance details on the Garda Pulse computer records system, in an attempt to frustrate potential prosecutions against persons for driving without insurance. His trial heard that the drivers involved were stopped at routine Garda checkpoints around the country and asked by the garda present to produce their insurance and licence details at a nominated Garda station within ten days of the traffic stop. All of the drivers involved nominated Rathkeale garda station, and, later, when the investigating garda in each of the traffic stops carried out follow up checks of Pulse they were satisfied the details entered indicated that the driver in each case was insured. However, the court heard some of the drivers were actually not insured and had actually been prosecuted in court after pleading guilty to driving without insurance. Mr Nicholas told the jury Mr Flavin was an exemplary garda who had served with dedication in Croom and Rathkeale, Co Limerick, for many years. The defence barrister had urged the jury to acquit and not fall into the trap of speculation, remarking to the jury that there was radically insufficient evidence to support a conviction against Garda Flavin. "He (Mr Flavin) served his community without blemish and without any disciplinary blots - you know that from the evidence. When other Gardai came to give evidence, his superiors, they spoke of him very fondly and well - It wasn't far off gushing and they spoke with knowledge," Mr Nicholas told the jury in his closing speech, Thursday. Mr Nicholas spoke of the 'unique challenges' Gardai face in Rathkeale as opposed to other jurisdictions: 'People who live down here know it has an enormous population, transient, in and out at various times of the year. One policeman said (the population) quadruples and with that comes its own set of problems and own sets of vehicles - UK car registrations, UK insurance, some not insured, some not being entirely truthful." "We know that a certain number of times that people who were pulled up and stopped and asked for their documentation, produced bogus insurance certificates." Mr Nicholas said the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, is an extraordinarily, serious allegation to make against a serving Garda and that the State had "nothing close" to proving its case. The court heard evidence that persons had provided certain documents at Rathkeale garda station, where Garda Flavin was based at the time, however it was unclear who produced the documents nor was it clear what documents they produced. Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, had alleged that the evidence would show that Gda Flavin had "sorted out" the uninsured drivers by inputting data into Pulse to try to frustrate prosecutions against them. However, Ms Murphy had told the jury that the prosecution case was "a circumstantial case" with "no direct evidence". "Instead, the prosecution relies on indirect evidence," Ms Murphy said. Ms Murphy had explained to the jury that a statute of limitation of "six months" generally applied in respect of prosecuting offences of driving without insurance. She had argued that all of the relevant data entries into Pulse "were entered under the ID of Thomas Flavin" and she had alleged that "Tom Flavin knew they (the drivers) were not covered (by insurance) and that he entered the details onto PULSE to ensure they (appeared) covered". "Mr Flavin knew what he was doing, and he did so to ensure those persons were insured (on PULSE) when they were not, in order to ensure there was no prosecution," Ms Murphy had alleged in court. However, after deliberating for three hours and 21 minutes, the jury disagreed and unanimously dismissed all of the allegations that had been made against Gda Flavin, following an expensive and top-level GNBCI (Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation) probe.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Co Limerick garda acquitted of charges he fixed motoring offences for drivers
A Limerick-based garda has been found not guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice after allegations he fixed motoring offences for drivers. Garda Thomas Flavin was acquitted of a total of 22 counts of allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice by a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court following an eight day trial. The jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on 17 of the charges. Earlier, the jury was directed by the trial judge, Colin Daly, to return not guilty verdicts in respect of five counts against Garda Flavin. The garda, who had denied all of the charges, was supported in court throughout the trial by family friends and colleagues. READ MORE Garda Flavin was arrested following an investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI). He was accused of knowingly entering false motor insurance details on the Garda Pulse computer records system, in an attempt to frustrate potential prosecutions against people for driving without insurance. His trial heard the drivers involved were stopped at routine Garda checkpoints around the country and asked by the garda present to produce their insurance and licence details at a nominated Garda station within 10 days of the traffic stop. All of the drivers involved nominated Rathkeale Garda station, and, later, when the investigating garda in each of the traffic stops carried out follow up checks of Pulse they were satisfied the details entered indicated that the driver in each case was insured. However, the court heard some of the drivers were actually not insured and had been prosecuted in court after pleading guilty to driving without insurance. On Thursday, Garda Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, urged the jury to acquit his client of all of the charges and said there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Mr Nicholas told the jury Garda Flavin was an exemplary garda who had served with dedication in Croom and Rathkeale, Co Limerick, for many years. Mr Nicholas spoke of the 'unique challenges' gardaí face in Rathkeale as opposed to other jurisdictions. 'People who live down here know it has an enormous population, transient, in and out at various times of the year. 'One policeman said (the population) quadruples and with that comes its own set of problems and own sets of vehicles – UK car registrations, UK insurance, some not insured, some not being entirely truthful," he said. 'We know that a certain number of times that people who were pulled up and stopped and asked for their documentation, produced bogus insurance certificates.' The court heard evidence that people had provided certain documents at Rathkeale Garda station, where Garda Flavin was based at the time. However it was unclear who produced the documents nor was it clear what documents they produced. Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, had alleged that the evidence would show that Garda Flavin had 'sorted out' the uninsured drivers by inputting data into Pulse to try to frustrate prosecutions against them. Ms Murphy had told the jury that the prosecution case was 'a circumstantial case' with 'no direct evidence'. 'Instead, the prosecution relies on indirect evidence,' she said. She had argued that all of the relevant data entries into Pulse 'were entered under the ID of Thomas Flavin'. She alleged Garda Flavin knew the drivers were not insured and that he entered their details on to Pulse to ensure they appeared covered. 'Mr Flavin knew what he was doing, and he did so to ensure those people were insured (on Pulse) when they were not, in order to ensure there was no prosecution,' Ms Murphy said. However, after deliberating for three hours and 21 minutes, the jury unanimously dismissed all of the allegations.
The Journal
2 days ago
- The Journal
Limerick garda found not guilty of charges he 'sorted out' motoring offences for drivers
LAST UPDATE | 21 mins ago A SERVING GARDA has been found not guilty by a jury of charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice after allegations he 'sorted out' motoring offences for drivers. Garda Tom Flavin was acquitted of a total of 22 counts of allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice by a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court following an eight-day trial. Today, the jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on 17 of the charges. Earlier, the jury was directed by the trial judge, Mr Justice Colin Daly, to return not guilty verdicts in respect of five counts against Garda Flavin. The long-serving and respected Co Limerick Garda, who had consistently denied all charges, was supported in court throughout the trial by a large gathering of family friends and colleagues. On Thursday, Garda Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, told the jury to acquit the garda of all charges, and said there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the accused. Garda Flavin was arrested and charged following an investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and ultimately accused of knowingly entering false motor insurance details on the Garda Pulse computer records system, in an attempt to frustrate potential prosecutions against persons for driving without insurance. His trial heard that the drivers involved were stopped at routine Garda checkpoints around the country and asked by the garda present to produce their insurance and licence details at a nominated Garda station within ten days of the traffic stop. All the drivers involved nominated Rathkeale garda station, and, later, when the investigating garda in each of the traffic stops carried out follow-up checks of Pulse, they were satisfied the details entered indicated that the driver in each case was insured. However, the court heard some of the drivers were actually not insured and had actually been prosecuted in court after pleading guilty to driving without insurance. Barrister Nicholas told the jury that Garda Flavin was an exemplary officer, who had served with dedication at stations in Croom and Rathkeale, Co Limerick, for many years. The defence barrister had urged the jury to acquit and not fall into the trap of speculation, remarking to the jury that there was radically insufficient evidence to support a conviction against Garda Flavin. '[Garda Flavin] served his community without blemish and without any disciplinary blots – you know that from the evidence,' Nicholas told the jury yesterday. 'When other gardaí came to give evidence, his superiors, they spoke of him very fondly and well. It wasn't far off gushing, and they spoke with knowledge,' he added in his closing speech. Advertisement Mr Nicholas spoke of the 'unique challenges' gardaí face in Rathkeale, as opposed to other jurisdictions. 'People who live down here know it has an enormous population, transient, in and out at various times of the year,' he said. 'One policeman said (the population) quadruples and with that comes its own set of problems and own sets of vehicles – UK car registrations, UK insurance, some not insured, some not being entirely truthful. 'We know that a certain number of times that people who were pulled up and stopped and asked for their documentation, produced bogus insurance certificates.' Nicholas said the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, is an extraordinarily, serious allegation to make against a serving garda and that the State had 'nothing close' to proving its case. The court heard evidence that persons had provided certain documents at Rathkeale garda station, where Garda Flavin was based at the time, however it was unclear who produced the documents nor was it clear what documents they produced. Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, had alleged that the evidence would show that Garda Flavin had 'sorted out' the uninsured drivers by inputting data into Pulse to try to frustrate prosecutions against them. However, Murphy had told the jury that the prosecution case was 'a circumstantial case' with 'no direct evidence'. 'Instead, the prosecution relies on indirect evidence,' she told the court. Murphy had explained to the jury that a statute of limitation of 'six months' generally applied in respect of prosecuting offences of driving without insurance. She had argued that the relevant data entries into Pulse 'were entered under the ID of Thomas Flavin'. She alleged that Garda Flavin knew the drivers were not covered by insurance and that he 'entered the details onto PULSE to ensure they (appeared) covered'. 'Mr Flavin knew what he was doing,' Murphy said. 'And he did so to ensure those persons were insured (on PULSE) when they were not, in order to ensure there was no prosecution.' After deliberating for three hours and 21 minutes, the jury disagreed with the prosecution's case. They unanimously dismissed all the allegations that had been made against Garda Flavin, following an expensive and top-level Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation probe. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. 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