Case against two gardai charged with assault while on duty referred to High Court

Garda Tony King and Garda Gareth O’Reilly are accused of assaulting Ryan McGlone at Matthews Lane in Drogheda, Co Louth on January 23, 2021

• 16:00, 28 NOV 2023

The case against two serving gardai charged with assault while on duty has now been referred to the High Court over an issue with CCTV evidence.

Garda Tony King and Garda Gareth O’Reilly are accused of assaulting Ryan McGlone at Matthews Lane in Drogheda, Co Louth on January 23, 2021.

Gda King is charged with one count of Section 3 assault causing harm while Gda O’Reilly is charged with two counts of Section 2 assault.

At an earlier hearing of the case, the proceedings were halted over a dispute surrounding the admissibility of key CCTV evidence allegedly taken on the night the alleged assault took place.

At that court sitting Carl Hanohoe BL, who was prosecuting for the DPP following a GSOC probe, outlined some of the facts of the case.

The barrister said the alleged victim who was identified as Ryan McGlone was “drinking” near a supermarket at which point he became involved in “a dispute with a third party”.

The court heard that Gda Det Donagh Mannix along with an officer from GSOC visited the house which had allegedly captured the incident on CCTV on February 25, 2021 – more than a month later.

The CCTV which allegedly captured the incident was then downloaded and given to GSOC. The prosecution then attempted to play the CCTV for the court.

But both defence counsels argued that the householder needed to be present in court to give evidence. But Mr Hanahoe BL said the householder had refused to provide a statement.

Following lengthy legal arguments from both defence counsels, District Court Judge Judge Michele Finan ultimately ruled that the CCTV was inadmissible as the “chain of evidence had been broken from the get-go.”

However, Me Hanohoe then made an application for the case to be adjourned and said he wanted the High Court to make a decision on the judge’s ruling

Today, at Drogheda District Court, the case was formally sent to the High Court on the submission “to prove the provenance (the origin) of the CCTV footage is necessary to call the owner/occupier of the premises on which the cameras where the footage was collected one month after the alleged incident where there is no evidence before the court that the owner consented to its seizure, nor that it was operated correctly, nor that it was interfered with.”

The case was adjourned for an update on March 25, 2024.