Decision to prosecute garda over fatal crash which killed three fleeing criminals ‘extremely shocking’ – GRA

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The body representing frontline gardaí has said it is “extremely concerning” that a member is facing prosecution in relation to a fatal crash in which three known criminals died.

Dean Maguire (29), Karl Freeman (26) and Graham Taylor (31) were pronounced dead after the BMW they were travelling in on the wrong side of the N7 dual-carriageway collided head on with a truck on July 7, 2021.

All three were known to gardaí for involvement in organised burglaries, had over 200 criminal convictions between them, and had come to the attention of gardaí prior to the fatal collision.

Their inquest yesterday heard that a garda will face prosecution in relation to “his driving on the night” of the incident.

Evidence was given that a prosecution was directed following an investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents over 12,500 rank-and-file gardaí, has said the news is a “shock” to its membership and added that it will be providing assistance to the individual.

GRA President Brendan O’Connor told Independent.ie: ““The news that any member would face the threat of criminal charges for any actions while carrying out their duty for the protection of the public has come as a shock and is extremely concerning for our members.

“However, as we do not know the details or context of any possible charges, it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time except to say that the association will be providing any assistance and supports we can to our colleague at this time,” Mr O’Connor added.

The inquest also heard that the garda’s solicitor had been informed of the pending prosecution but that the member had not yet been formally notified of the charges.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has described the fact that a garda was made aware of public charges being brought against him as “scandalous”.

General Secretary Antoinette Cunningham said it was another situation in which a garda is subjected to a “protracted GSOC process only to find out in the public domain” that he is facing charges.

“The personal impact is grave, and the professional impact damaging. We see multiples cases of this each year. This cannot continue.

“It is in no way best practice and most certainly will have a negative consequence on ongoing garda recruitment,” Ms Cunningham said.

“On a basic human rights level any person is entitled to be made fully aware of any criminal charges being proffered against them without it being aired fist in a public forum. That this matter happened in that way is simply wrong and unacceptable.

“AGSI is once again calling for a complete overhaul of GSOC and how it operates,” she added.

Coroner Clare Keane was informed yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had taken the decision to initiate the prosecution based on a file submitted by GSOC which investigated the circumstances of the fatal crash.

A designated officer with GSOC, Seán Campbell, applied for an adjournment of the inquest into the deaths of the three men based on the new development in the case.

Mr Campbell said the garda facing the prosecution was still not aware of the precise offence with which he would be charged and consequently he did not wish to say anything further on the matter.

The GSOC officer said he was not in a position to provide any more details about the prosecution until he had received documents from the DPP relating to the summons to be served on the garda.

Pressed by solicitors on behalf of the families of the three men deceased, Mr Campbell replied that the offence related to the garda’s “driving on the night”.

The GSOC official said he would be happy to answer any questions once the summons had been served on the garda and he was aware of the offence.

The inquest was adjourned for a further hearing on May 23.