Garda managers were told to tighten policy on the treatment of people in custody in a series of “systemic recommendations” from the State’s policing watchdog, a new report shows.
The recommendations were handed down last year by the former Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc). Gsoc was succeeded in April, under new laws, by a body called Fiosrú.
Gsoc’s 2024 annual report, the final such report for a full year of operations, shows it also issued recommendations to then Garda commissioner Drew Harris relating to custody management and record keeping.
Further recommendations were issued on the conduct of personal searches, storage and record keeping in relation to firearms at Garda stations.
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Another recommendation was issued about “managed containment of vehicles”, which is the official term for car chases in which gardaí pursue suspect drivers.
The Gsoc report did not elaborate on the specific changes sought, but said the measures “focus on systemic matters of practice and management, rather than on the behaviour of individuals”.
Gsoc received 2,226 complaints from the public in 2024 and opened 37 investigations on referral by An Garda Síochána, following incidents involving death or serious harm.
The report said 67 files were forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) arising from Gsoc investigations in 2024.
Gsoc received 48 directions from the DPP in 2024, which followed criminal investigations initiated that year and previous years. “Of these, the DPP directed the prosecution of 22 offences (regarding 13 investigation files) and the DPP directed no prosecution in relation to 35 investigations,” the report said.
The organisation returned “just over” €2 million to the Exchequer in 2024, saying delays commencing the Fiosrú legislation reduced the need to recruit additional staff.
The report set out 15 anonymised case studies with examples of how Gsoc carried out its work.
These included a case referred to Gsoc by a Garda superintendent in which a person alleged being assaulted while in custody by a sergeant not involved in the arrest.
The referral was made as the matter appeared to indicate a garda’s conduct may have resulted in serious harm to a person. Although Gsoc found the referral did not meet the threshold of serious harm, it initiated a public interest criminal investigation.
“A junior member of An Garda Síochána alleged she was instructed by their sergeant to create a false record of the incident in the Garda custody record. The member later amended the entry and detailed the correct version of events,” the Gsoc case study said.
“The Gsoc investigator sought CCTV, however no CCTV system was installed within the Garda station at that time and [they] had to rely on taking numerous statements from gardaí, including the member who alleged she was instructed to make a false record and those in the immediate area of the assault within the Garda station.
“Gsoc seized the custody record from the station that held the amended entry and interviewed the Garda sergeant on two occasions under caution.”
The sergeant entered a not-guilty plea to the two charges but was found guilty by a District Court judge and convicted on both charges, the case-study report said. The charges were for assault contrary to section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, and attempting to pervert the course of justice contrary to common law.
The judge imposed a sentence of 80 hours of community service in lieu of four months’ imprisonment.
