A garda has been served with a summons for court on charges in relation to a horror incident in which three burglars died in a collision on the N7.
This paper has learned that a serving garda, who was allegedly involved in the incident two years ago in which three men were killed while fleeing gardai by driving the wrong way down the road, has now been officially served with the charges against him.
We have learned that the officer has been charged with endangerment and dangerous driving in relation to the deaths of burglars Dean Maguire (29), Karl Freeman (26) and Graham Taylor (31).
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The three men died after they drove the wrong way down the N7 whilst fleeing gardai - and then collided in a head-on crash with a truck between Citywest and Baldonnel on July 7, 2021.
News of the garda member’s potential prosecution last month sparked outrage within An Garda Siochana.
Now we have learned that the Director of Public Prosecutions has moved forward with the charges - and a court summons has been issued.
The garda is facing dangerous driving charges as well as an endangerment charge.
It is understood that the officer, who is still serving in the force, met members of the Garda Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) on Tuesday - which formally served him the court summons.
The summons issued to the garda member informed him that he was to appear and be charged before a court in relation to the incident on a later date.
Gardai and GSOC both declined to comment when contacted by this paper about the development.
It is understood that the ongoing inquest into the men’s deaths is set to continue before the Coroners Court on Wednesday.
Tallaght burglars Dean Maguire, Karl Freeman and Graham Taylor – were killed instantly when their BMW vehicle burst into flames.
The move to prosecute the garda has been met with widespread criticism within An Garda Siochana.
Reacting to the news tonight GRA President Brendan O’Connor told us:
“The Garda Representative Association has only been informed of the exact nature of these charges in the past 24 hours and will now take time to consider the implications and any possible course of action required.
"We can assure all members that all relevant supports and advice have been made available to our colleague at this time and the Association will continue to do so.
"While we respect the independence of both the offices of the DPP and GSOC we have a number of questions regarding the timing and handling of this case which we will address at an appropriate later date."
Antoinette Cunningham, General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) previously said:
“Once again we have a situation whereby a Garda is subject to a protracted 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 damaging.
“We see multiple cases of this each year. This cannot continue. It is no way 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.”
Last month a designated officer with Gsoc, Seán Campbell, applied for an adjournment of the inquest into the deaths of the three men based on the new development in the case.
However, solicitor for Mr Taylor’s family, James MacGuill, complained at the time that minimal information about the pending prosecution was being provided to the hearing.
“It is scandalous treatment by Gsoc of bereaved families who already have been waiting two years for answers,” Mr MacGuill said.
He claimed Gsoc should be required to provide a legal justification as to why the men’s relatives should have another two weeks of “legal uncertainty” imposed on them.
Mr MacGuill also called on Dr Keane to use her authority to get Mr Campbell to provide such information.
Solicitor for Mr Maguire’s family, Michael Finucane, claimed there would be no prejudice to the garda by just informing the men's relatives of the charge which the garda would be facing.
Mr Finucane said he could see no basis why they could not be given such information after hearing from Mr Campbell that the garda’s solicitor had been told “in a roundabout way” about the pending prosecution. Asked to clarify what that meant, Mr Campbell replied that the offence related to “his driving on the night”.
Mr MacGuill said he would be “astonished” if the garda or his solicitor had not asked what exact charge he would be facing.
He claimed there was nothing under legislation to prevent the coroner and his clients from being told the nature of the offence as Mr Campbell was only stating a preference not to release such information.
“What possible reason is there not to be told today,” he remarked.
However, Mr Campbell said he was aware of the specific charge but did not wish to answer further questions about it at this stage.
Following repeated questions by legal representatives of the families of the deceased, Mr Campbell said he had informed the garda’s solicitor about the prosecution.
He explained that the solicitor would have seen all of Gsoc's information on the case and would have known “what was coming”.
Mr Campbell said he believed it was only fair that the garda should be formally notified first about the offence and would not release such information in advance of that.
In response, Mr Finucane claimed no justifiable reasons had been provided by the Gsoc official for not revealing the specific offence.
“It’s not good enough. That is really causing great difficulties for all the families,” he added.
Mr Freeman’s father, Jason Freeman, addressed the court to express concern that the families would read about the charge in the newspapers unless the coroner compelled Mr Campbell to disclose the offence.
Addressing a large group of the deceased’s relatives who attended the hearing, Dr Keane acknowledged the issue was “very upsetting” for them.
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