THE commission of investigation into allegations of corruption and malpractice in the Cavan/Monaghan division has cleared the former justice minister Alan Shatter of ignoring wrongdoing.
A draft report by the judge Kevin O’Higgins, circulated to key witnesses, is understood to have found that Shatter was entitled to rely on the findings of an internal garda report, which found no evidence of corruption among gardai. The investigation was set up a year ago following claims made by Maurice McCabe, a garda whistleblower.
The report says serious procedural issues, lack of supervision and resources should have been addressed by gardai. It criticises the force for failing to have adequate procedures in place for gardai to follow when dealing with serious crime. It identifies shortcomings in how gardai case-managed investigations.
The draft report, which is marked private and confidential, is believed to raise concerns about some allegations made by McCabe, the winner of the 2014 People of the Year Award, though it found he believed his fears were reasonable in certain cases. McCabe has insisted he acted in the public interest at all times. Some witnesses contradicted his evidence.
O’Higgins, who is the sole member of the commission, was asked to investigate issues raised in a report by Seán Guerin, a barrister who investigated McCabe’s allegations. The publication of the report in May 2014 led to Shatter’s resignation as justice minister.
Advertisement
O’Higgins examined how gardai handled nine criminal investigations between 2007 and 2009 including assaults, dangerous driving, public order offences and a possible sexual assault.
The most serious issue concerned events surrounding the murder of Sylvia Roche Kelly by Jerry McGrath, 24, an unemployed man from Dundrum, Co Tipperary, at a hotel in Limerick in December 2007.
McGrath was on bail for two offences when he murdered Kelly. He had been charged in connection with the attempted abduction of a five-year-old girl in Clonmel the previous October. He was also facing charges relating to a serious assault on Mary Lynch, a taxi driver in Cavan, in April 2007.
McGrath was released on station bail of €300 and charged under Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. No conditions were attached.
O’Higgins has not apportioned blame for Kelly’s death on any individual garda but highlights various issues around her murder. The report concludes that McGrath should have been charged with a more serious offence after attacking Lynch, and that gardai missed opportunities to have him remanded in custody.
Advertisement
O’Higgins says that a lack of supervision by garda management contributed to these shortcomings.
The findings of O’Higgins’s report have been circulated to Shatter, McCabe, gardai, victims, solicitors and others who were warned not to disclose the findings.
On Friday, solicitors acting for O’Higgins wrote to The Sunday Times to say it was of “paramount importance” that the confidentiality of the material furnished to witnesses was not put into the public domain and warned of possible prosecution.
The letter said the draft report may be amended. Last week, Shatter referred to the events surrounding his departure from office in 2014, saying it was important that people tell the truth . He later referred to the work of the O’Higgins commission when asked if he had been scapegoated by the taoiseach.
Shatter said there had been allegations made against him that suggested he had ignored garda wrongdoing, and that the Guerin report had seemed to substantiate this.
Advertisement
“I expect when the Higgins report is published, people will have a very different insight and understanding of those events,” he said.
“I believe that matters relating to Guerin, both prior to [him] reporting and the manner in which the report was dealt with by the taoiseach, should have been dealt with entirely differently.”
O’Higgins wants views on his report to be in by Easter.