There’s a real bang of the Maurice McCabe case here. They decided they had to pin something on O’Neill and moved heaven and earth to try and get something to stick. It would be fair enough if they confined it to him, but to drag junior guards through a 7 year process in a botched attempt at nailing their superior is a disgrace.
An 8 week trial for one guard over a single speeding ticket. That is in no way proportional.
Totally different. Maurice McCabe was a whistleblower that that dirty scumbag Callinan set out to destroy.
Disagree. I very much doubt they are as pure as the driven snow. They should count themselves lucky.
“Mr Holt said he had no recollection of Ms Callinan kissing her brother – as alleged by the gardaí present”
What is the gist of this whole thing? Gardai were stopping lads for speeding. Said lads would have been of the “do you know who I am? Any chance you could do a solid for me?” type, and the Garda says “yeah, go on, you’re grand” and then someone else got wind of it and wanted to nail them? In theory, what they were doing was wrong etc etc but it wasn’t wrong at the same time?
My folks couldn’t see the problem with the lads getting off speeding points or the Gardai going to court.
I remember my auld lad got caught speeding coming out the dock road in Limerick, and he was more pissed off that the Garda knew who he was and didn’t let him off than the “summons”.
The Limerick lads were ringing EON after they were stopped, and EON would get onto someone on the ground local to that particular Guard to see would they let them off
And this lad is being treated as some kind of hero?
Who is being treated as a hero?
EON
If, what EON was doing was wrong, why is he seen as “vindicated”?
There’s no harm in decent people having a word put in for them to have a summons dropped.
Did ye read any of the coverage lads?
A host of retired officers up to an Assistant Commissioner gave evidence that this was common practice and had gone on for donkeys years.
EON said that NBCI had gone after him about the tickets when their investigation into another matter (currently before the courts) had came to nought, he probably wasn’t wrong on that part
Most peoples issue was the proportionality of it and that the whole charade seemed to focused on nailing one person and people connected to him over a practice that was widespread in the Gardai.
What was the ratio to current officers who came forward ?
The two officers that oversaw the investigation gave evidence for the prosecution and were also somehow miraculously unaware of the practice having gone on for all of their service, and one denied having made such a phone call when it was put to him. They’re both out the gap now.
The current Superintendent in Clare gave evidence for the defence.
Fixed
There was a time when the police in this country were friends of the church; speeding tickets torn up, drunk driving charges quashed, even a blind eye turned to the odd murder
A bit of leniency on petty offences by decent folk is no harm. Murder probably stretching it.
That would be dependant on the alrightsortedness or not of the victim.
Sometimes a medal would be the appropriate award.