Donegal-based Garda Keith Harrison has lost a High Court challenge to his ongoing suspension for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a woman he had dealt with while investigating alleged domestic abuse.
Gda Harrison, who had given evidence at the Disclosures Tribunal investigating claims by Garda whistleblowers, was suspended in 2021 over the alleged inappropriate relationship. The suspension has been extended every three months since then.
In March last year he started a High Court challenge to a Garda board of inquiry that was established to investigate the allegations against him.
He claimed a belated disclosure of a decision not to prosecute the person accused of domestic abuse represented a significant change in circumstances that would trigger a requirement to notify him and invite submissions from him on the implications of that decision for his suspension.
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He also claimed, among other complaints, that a particular witness statement had not been disclosed to his side until the board of inquiry hearing took place.
Gda Harrison, who is stationed in Milford, also said the series of suspension extensions every three months was unlawful. He denied any wrongdoing, saying the relationship with the woman involved was consensual and has now ended.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris opposed the challenge.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Garrett Simons dismissed the case after finding Gda Harrison’s continuing suspension was lawful.
Considering the “seriousness of the breaches of discipline alleged and the apparent strength of the evidence underlying those allegations”, the judge said, it was “reasonable and rational” for the suspension to be extended at each three-month review.
He was satisfied the belated disclosure of the June 2020 decision not to pursue a criminal prosecution was not a significant change that would to trigger a requirement to notify him.
The essence of the alleged breach of discipline remained the same, he said.
The challenge to the proposed procedures of the board of inquiry was premature and it could not be said, at this remove, that the process has gone irretrievably wrong, the judge said.
The disciplinary process arose after the woman involved allegedly reported to Gda Harrison in 2019 that she was a victim of assault and domestic abuse. It is claimed he entered into a relationship with her within weeks.
The judge said the alleged breach of discipline was that this was contrary to the professional duty of care for a garda to engage in a sexual relationship with a person who has made a complaint of domestic abuse to that officer.
The alleged breach of discipline was directed towards “the power dynamic between a person making a complaint of domestic abuse and the garda to whom that complaint is made”, he said.
The decision not the prosecute the person alleged to have carried out the abuse did “not materially affect any assessment of the seriousness of the alleged breach of discipline”, he said.
Gda Harrison was one of several members of the force to appear before the Disclosures Tribunal. In 2017 and 2018, the tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, rejected allegations made by him.
