Dublin man appears in court on charges of corruption and perverting the course of justice

 • Yesterday 18:23

A Dublin man has appeared in court on charges of corruption and perverting the course of justice after being extradited from Spain.

Ryan Fitzpatrick (25) was brought before a sitting of Dublin district court on Thursday evening where gardaí objected to him being granted bail.

The accused, of Seamount Road in Malahide, is alleged to have requested confidential information on the Garda PULSE system in exchange for a monetary reward.

Det Gda Gerrit Durnin, of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), said he arrested the accused at Dublin Airport and that he made no reply when the charges were put to him.

The detective objected to bail citing the seriousness of the charges and the strength of the supporting evidence.

He said Mr Fitzpatrick is accused of corruptly offering a gift to Lauryn McCann as an inducement on account of her doing an act in relation to her employment.

The offence is contrary to Section 5(1) of the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018.

The court was told gardaí carried out an operation in May 2020 relating to the unlawful dissemination of data held on the Garda PULSE system by a civilian staff member to a third party.

A search was carried out under warrant and the staff member’s phone was seized.

The court heard that when it was examined gardaí found that a total of 69 PULSE images had been shared via Whatsapp to a number saved as ‘R’.

The images, the detective said, related to Ryan Fitzpatrick and another named man.

Det Gda Durnin said it would be alleged that ‘R’ made an offer of a reward for information in a message on May 11, 2020.

The message read: “Thanks for that, keep an eye out always a few quid there for you if anything pops up”.

He said that in another message ‘R’ asked the civilian staff member to “do me bros” if they “get a chance” with mention of €500.

Det Gda Durnin told the court it would be alleged that at time the ‘R’ number was in use by Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The accused is also charged with perverting the course of justice, which the court heard carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, by attempting to destroy a mobile phone.

The detective said gardaí carried out a search of his home in May 2020 and, in the presence of gardaí, Mr Fitzpatrick allegedly attempted to discard a mobile phone down a toilet.

Judge Márie Conneely was told gardaí are satisfied that there is strong technical evidence to demonstrate that at the time Ryan Fitzpatrick was ‘R’ saved in the civilian staff member’s phone.

Under cross-examination from defence solicitor Mervyn Harnett, of Ferrys Solicitors, the detective accepted that there are no concerns of witness interference in the case.

The court was also told Mr Fitzpatrick consented to being extradited from Spain.

Det Gda Durnin added that the accused was arrested on foot of a European Arrest Warrant and believed he would still be in Spain if the warrant hadn’t been issued.

Mr Harnett submitted that the state had not made its case to satisfy the denial of bail and said there was no evidence given that his client would commit further serious offences if released.

He said that the state’s case appeared strong but that the technical evidence has not yet been tested in court.

The solicitor also said that his client would face a long period in custody while awaiting trial if refused bail.

Judge Conneely said the accused was entitled to the presumption of innocence but citing the seriousness of the charge and strength of the evidence refused bail.

Mr Fitzpatrick was remanded in custody and will appear before Cloverhill district court via video link next week.