Commissioner: 3,400 gardaí could face disciplinary action

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has directed senior officers to examine 3,400 gardaí — around a quarter of all members — to see if disciplinary issues arise for failing to prosecute almost 8,000 criminal offences by juveniles over an eight-year period.

Commissioner: 3,400 gardaí could face disciplinary action

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has directed senior officers to examine 3,400 gardaí — around a quarter of all members — to see if disciplinary issues arise for failing to prosecute almost 8,000 criminal offences by juveniles over an eight-year period.

The crimes include 55 serious offences, including one rape, one sexual offence, seven cases of aggravated burglary, one case of child neglect and other cases of threats to kill — and these incidents could leave the gardaí and the State open to civil actions.

The commissioner said the mass disciplinary examinations was an “extraordinary step” for him to take, but accepts that there were both individual and organisational failings.

At a special public meeting of the Policing Authority, he said An Garda Síochána failed victims “by a very considerable margin” and apologised to them — an apology repeated in letters being sent out to the nearly 2,500 individual victims and almost 990 businesses.

“We have failed and failed by a very considerable margin,” he said.

Authority member Bob Collins said that, notwithstanding the succession of other Garda controversies in recent years, this scandal is “the most serious” the authority has dealt with.

An internal Garda review of juvenile offences, which were deemed unsuitable for the Garda Youth Diversion Programme and sent back to local districts for prosecution, found 7,900 offences were not prosecuted because of garda inaction between 2010 and 2017.

These 7,894 offences involved 2,492 individual victims and 988 businesses and were carried out by 3,489 children.

The authority heard:

  • The 7,894 offences reflect 47% of the 16,877 cases where no prosecution was taken and 14% of the 55,506 referrals deemed unsuitable:
  • Public order accounted for 20% (1,635) of offences, theft 14% (1,112), criminal damage 10% (788) and burglary 7% (553);
  • 2,500 children were not prosecuted for crimes between 1-2 times, 870 children between three and 10 occasions, 35 children between 11 and 20 times and seven children on more than 20 occasions, with one child failed 37 times;
  • Prosecutions can no longer be taken for the less serious crimes given a six-month deadline for summary prosecutions has long passed;
  • While gardaí were consulting with the DPP on serious offences, the commissioner said it was “unlikely” prosecutions would be taken given the passage of time —but said they “haven’t closed that option off completely”;
  • Although the problem tailed away in 2016 and 2017 after IT changes, new cases have emerged indicating that 100 children (out of 16,000) were not prosecuted in 2018, including 91 for motoring offences;
  • Authority chairwoman Josephine Feehily said the widespread problem regarding juvenile offenders could have spread to adult offenders — a concern echoed by the commissioner.

Mr Harris said there is now a “consideration of discipline” in the juvenile case, noting they range in severity. He said some “undoubtedly will be discipline cases” but he will await the examination by divisional officers. He said it is very difficult to determine whether or not a proper garda intervention would have made a difference to the children concerned.

Figures show the vast majority were repeat offenders and that prior to the case under review, the children had, on average, four prior referrals, two prior charges and one prior summons and that subsequently had, on average, 10 referrals, 17 charges and seven summons.

Ms Feehily pointed out that some of the children (57) are no longer alive and that “intervention might have saved their lives”.

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