The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has described as “scandalous” a situation whereby a serving member of An Garda Siochana found out in a public forum about charges to be brought against him.
General Secretary, Antoinette Cunningham said, “Once again we have a situation whereby a Garda is subject to a protracted Gara Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) process to only find out in a public domain that he is to face charges. The personal impact is grave, and the professional impact is damaging.
“We see multiple cases of this each year. This cannot continue. It is in no way the best practice and most certainly will have a negative consequence on ongoing Garda recruitment.
“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 first 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.”
ENDS
