Kingscourt bus incident Lorraine Browne, Kingscourt, Co Cavan, was abused and harassed by a group of men on her minibus on February 25th, 2007. No one was convicted, but a small amount of compensation was paid to her.
Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins said the investigation of the incident was very poor. Failings included that Garda Fearghal McCarthy, on his first public order incident, did not take notes of what happened at the scene, or statements from two witnesses. There was no attempt to interview suspects, except one.
On Sgt McCabe’s complaints about this case, he said his assertion about its seriousness was not exaggerated, but there was no evidence of corruption.
Lakeside Manor Hotel assault Charles McMahon, from Virginia, Co Cavan, was assaulted at the Lakeside Manor Hotel on April 14th, 2007. The case against his alleged assailant was dismissed for lack of evidence.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said this investigation “started well” but was “characterised by delay and error”. For four months, no steps were taken, notes were not adequately recorded and CCTV was not secured. Investigating garda Pádraig Naughton received “virtually no guidance” from his superiors.
He said Sgt McCabe correctly identified the deficiencies in this investigation, but his allegation of criminal conduct by gardaí was withdrawn.
Assault of Mary Lynch and murder of Sylvia Roche Kelly Mary Lynch, a taxi driver, was assaulted near Virginia on April 30th, 2007, by Jerry McGrath. He was released on bail and abducted a five-year-old child in Tipperary, was bailed again, and murdered Sylvia Roche Kelly, on December 2007.
Mr Justice O’Higgins found, in the Lynch case, an inappropriate charge was brought against McGrath and the investigation was characterised by “delay and lack of effective supervision of the investigating member”.
There was also “inordinate delay” in files being sent to the DPP, undated witness statements and a failure to ensure Ms Lynch was in court when the case was disposed of.
On Sgt McCabe’s complaint, that there was an urgent attempt to dispose of Ms Lynch’s case as quickly as possible and at all costs, Mr Justice O’Higgins said there was no evidence to substantiate it.
Cafolla restaurant incident At Cafolla's restaurant, Bailieboro, Co Cavan, on August 5th, 2007, three men replaced vinegar in a restaurant dispenser with urine.
In 2008, two of them received three-month suspended sentences and one received the Probation of Offenders Act.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said owner Majella Cafolla was not well-served by gardaí. They had found the incident funny when she reported it, and errors included that CCTV footage was not logged, and there was an unwarranted delay in completing the file. The commission commended Sgt McCabe for his “diligence and commitment to duty” in the case.
Assault in Cootehill At 6am on September 2nd, 2007, a 17-year-old was walking home in the Cootehill area when she was assaulted. On January 21st, 2008, Garda Laura Martyn arrested a suspect. He was interviewed once with an interpreter, he denied wrongdoing and was released. No charges were ever brought.
The report found the interview with the suspect was dismal, and had “no forensic focus”. Defects in the investigation included inordinate delay, failure to hold an identity parade, and inadequate notes.
Sgt McCabe had claimed the assault was a rape. “This was exaggeration of both the evidence of the incident and the nature of the investigation,” Mr Justice O’Higgins said.
Dangerous driving at the Lakeside Manor Hotel On December 27th, 2007, security staff ejected three men and a woman from the hotel in Virginia at 2.30am. They got into a BMW and the driver reversed toward the hotel entrance at high speed.
Three people were hit, all receiving minor injuries. Despite CCTV, no one was arrested until August 30th, 2010.
Mr Justice O’Higgins said an “inordinate and unjustifiable delay led to the appropriate charge being statute barred”. On Sgt McCabe’s complaint, that gardaí did not want to investigate it, the judge said this was “unfounded”.
Assault at Crossan's pub in Bailieboro On May 23rd, 2007 at Crossan's pub, "Mr R" was assaulted and suffered face and head injuries.
In March 2008, two suspects were arrested but the victim withdrew his complaint. Mr Justice O’Higgins found probationer garda Seán Daly persuaded the victim to withdraw his statement “to cover his own significant failure to carry out an adequate investigation into the assault”.
In relation to Sgt McCabe's complaints, Mr Justice O'Higgins said he was quite right to be suspicious of the withdrawn statement, but some aspects of his complaint were exaggerated and wrong. The Fr Molloy Case and the missing computer Fr Michael Molloy was found guilty of child abuse offences at Cavan Circuit Court in July 2009. Gardaí had confiscated a computer in the process of their investigation against him. The computer was lost.
Mr Justice O’Higgins found the investigation had major flaws, including defective search warrants and the loss of the computer. He also found Supt Noel Cunningham’s direction to the DPP, that the case should be dealt with at District Court if there was a guilty plea, was “difficult to comprehend”.
But he said there was “no evidence to support any allegation” the superintendent was attempting to conceal anything from the DPP.
He said it was difficult to understand why Sgt McCabe was the only person subjected to disciplinary proceedings for the loss of the computer, given Garda Sinéad Killian was the exhibits officer. He said Sgt McCabe was quite rightly exonerated.
