A garda who gave an elderly man in a rural area a bicycle during the Covid-19 pandemic, but failed to fill out the necessary paperwork, has been cleared of any wrongdoing by a disciplinary inquiry.
The Garda Commissioner suspended the long serving garda for three years while the case was investigated by specialist investigators in the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation
The garda, who serves in the Midlands, gave the elderly man an unclaimed bicycle that had been in the garda station for some time after his own became unusable.
Detectives subsequently retrieved the bicycle from the elderly man and searched the garda’s home in June 2020.
The garda was reinstated in August last year after the investigation was completed and he was found to have no criminal case to answer.
However disciplinary proceedings were instigated, and he was confined to “restricted duties”, which meant he could not deal with the public.
The case came before a board comprised of a legal professional, a superintendent and a chief superintendent unconnected to the case.
The garda faced five disciplinary charges including discreditable conduct, disobedience, misuse of property and neglect of duty
A four-day hearing was held two weeks ago and today the board rejected all five disciplinary charges he had faced and is to publish a report on the matter.
The board’s decision will be sent to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, who can decide to accept or reject it.
In a statement this afternoon, Garda headquarters said An Garda Síochána does not comment on individual discipline processes including the outcome of individual Boards of Inquiry.
