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THE GARDA OMBUDSMAN Commission’s ongoing criticism of the force continued yesterday with a damning report on the assault of Anthony Holness while in the custody of Waterford Garda Station.
GSOC again claimed members of the force did not cooperate with its investigation and refused to supply information when it was requested.
The Commission was investigating claims the 38-year-old local man was beaten repeatedly and kicked in the head by gardaí who arrested him after he was found urinating on the street.
The Commission was also critical of Waterford Garda Station for illegally recording telephone conversations and called on Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to immediately review procedures.
The report follows a number of recent criticisms by GSOC over what it perceives is a lack of cooperation from the force when it is carrying out investigations into officers.
Jailed
Two former members of the force – Garda Daniel Hickey and Sergeant Martha McEnery – were convicted of assaulting Mr Holness in Waterford Circuit Court in November 2011.
Another former garda, John Burke, who was charged with monitoring CCTV in the station, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after he moved the cameras as the assault was taking place.
Hickey and Burke were both given custodial sentences by Judge Leonie Reynolds while McEnery escaped with a suspended sentence.
A fourth garda, Alan Kissane, was cleared of all charges brought forward by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Concerned
GSOC said cooperation was exemplary from some officers who were not on trial but in other cases it found support from gardaí “slow and less than optimal”.
“An effect on the investigation was that some documentation sought by GSOC from the Garda Síochána was procured at a very late stage in the investigation, some not received at all,” the report said.
“It is a cause of concern to the Ombudsman Commission that documentation it sought from the Garda Síochána and which was not supplied, was then produced in the course of the trial by the Defence for certain accused.”
GSOC also said the station’s practice of recording all incoming and outgoing calls on a public telephone line was in breach of statutes governing such procedures.
“On consideration of the ruling of the court the Garda Commissioner may wish to re-evaluate his practice regarding the recording of such calls and the consents required if it is to be permissible to use such recordings in evidence,” it said.
It’s definitely because they are afraid of women. Educated women are a major threat to their agenda. It’s so sad and so vile for those girls. I hope they can find a way around it.
@Anna Carr: no, it’s to prevent earthquakes. Everyone knows that earthquakes are caused by women wearing jeans, and many women in universities wear jeans. So, for our safety, it is necessary that women do not go to universities.
@John Mulligan: lol
@Anna Carr: “It’s definitely because they are afraid of women. Educated women are a major threat to their agenda.”
They don’t fear women, they view them as property and an educated woman can be easily silenced with a bullet. The only way out of this is to leave/escape or rebel en masse.
@Will: It’s definitely because they are afraid of women but they aren’t? Jaysus Will stick to calling people tarts.I do agree as regards internal uprising though. The bloodshed that entails is horrific though.
I find it absolutely incredible that such a society can still be allowed to exist in these times. What is the point of the UN? Certainly not to go where needed, unless there’s a political agenda as opposed to a human rights one.
I despair for the future of humanity as it would appear that we are the architect’s of our own extinction.
@John Mulligan: THe UN does not have the authority to go into a country and initiate regime change, just because we don’t like the method of government there (regardless of how evil and nasty it is)- that’s why countries find excuses like WMDs to go in and invade a country… Foreign governments have been attempting to put their own stamp on that country for the last few hundred years and all they have suceeded in doing is making it a lawless basket case.
@John Mulligan: ‘Allowed’ ?
@Keth Warsaw: Yes . Nobody wants these dystopian societies to continue their abuse of their own people. I think you strayed in here Keth you product of western culture unable to string a sentence together.
Women are being pushed out of Government jobs in Afghanistan..
Sounds like Ireland up to the 1980s when once a woman got married she was forced to resign from any Government job .
But we are so quick now to condemn less advanced countries.
@Roger Bond: and so we should be. Are you saying that they shouldn’t be condemned? And are sure they’re not advanced but rather led by religious fervour?
@Roger Bond: Oh shut up you tart!
@Roger Bond: ah sure tis grand so they are “less advanced” than us.
@Roger Bond: But, interestingly, while the law said she had to resign, she could also reapply for the vacant position! Married women could apply for positions. An odd loophole.
@Roger Bond: And so we should be. Condemn the bejayus out of them of them on the world stage. Show these women they have support. It will mean little as they will suffer but something nonetheless.
@Will: Yeah Roger you tart put a sock in it. Unusual way of putting it Will but I’m all for it. Roger you know what you are.
Some might ask ‘Who or what is western culture to suggest change in foreign cultures…such changes that might initially be justified, but which might have deeply changing effects in decades to come upon said foreign cultures?’ And yet, there are others that decry the loss of other cultures: the Red Indians, Aztecs, Aborigini’s etc. Is it correct for western culture to pick and choose what is right and wrong within another culture while defending ‘to the hilt’ any and all criticism by a exterior forces upon its own way of life, however detrimental the the effects (some of) the wests culture has had upon the planet et all.
@Keth Warsaw: Enough of this false equivalence and whataboutery. There has to be some things we can agree on as human beings.
Women are not property.
Homosexuals are not criminals.
Your religion doesn’t give you the right to abuse others who don’t share your beliefs.
If you agree with the three points above then you must condemn the Taliban.
Also, you talk of culture but that’s not what this is. Afghanistan was one of the most liberal countries in the near east until the 80′s and the Soviet invasion. The Taliban are destroying Afghani culture, not protecting it.
@Will: I’m not invested in any foreign culture. I’m a product of the west. But that said, I am interested in where the line of trying to change/westernise foreign cultures starts and stops.
@Will: I would suggest you don’t have the right to say to another, me, ‘Enough’. If I may remind you, we both live in the free west where open discussion is, ideally, permitted. Correct me if I am wrong?
@Keth Warsaw: Red Indians Jaysus. Have you escaped from the seventies? So if people are (usually women let’s be honest )are struggling against oppression we shouldn’t support them in any way we can. The “west’s culture” leaves a lot to be desired but most of us want to make it better and to not to throw people off buildings because of who they love.
@Keth Warsaw: You primarily Keth are a product of your own warped mind. You have absolutely nothing to offer other than your warped views. The only thing that really interests you is shoehorning some archaic fantasy of yours into modern Irish society. Nobody is buying what you have to sell. On your bike Keth
@Keth Warsaw: Doesn’t seem likely Keth . You are here with an agenda. Unfortunately you were at the back of queue at some point. I’m sure it’s not your fault I mean someone took advantage of you. I mean maybe they did or you are cackhandedly trying to further your own aims . Blimey Keth it’s like mystery mixed with an enigma. So Keth you seem to have run away. I would be really upset if you thought I had drawn attention to your pulsillanimist nature (ahem) in no way was that my intention.
@Daftbit Jelly: All the best for your future endeavours. Not being critical but you need vocabulary if you are doing the whole raised in western culture thing. Also the whole birthrate thing . Nobody cares. All right maybe statisticians or Issac Assimov ( no he’s dead) Shitë he wasn’t very nice apparently. A bit like you Keth with the women thing.
Not my words, but there are those who would suggest that the drop in western population, resulting in an aging population, and the need for foreign importation of peoples willing to contribute to western population numbers for the safe upkeep of government coffers is the result of western women choosing a career over having children at a safe age that guarantees healthy children, and a sustainable number of them. Unfortunately, we cannot eat our cake and have it to.
@Keth Warsaw: Certainly we can. We do in Ireland where we have a relatively higher younger population. Besides, your stats are out of date – plenty of women chose to have children during the pandemic, and worldwide, people had less stressful pregnancies and far fewer stillbirths because of increased flexibility. Credit where it’s due to companies that facilitated their working from home. Our government’s job is to ensure that they all have equal rights, avoid the poverty trap and don’t regret choosing to have children. Incidentally, when did you last bake a cake for anyone : – P
@Fiona Fitzgerald: By the very mature of it, I don’t think you can generally, sorry. If so, why are western birth rates falling?
Yep/cook. Sunday. Apple tart, friends.
@Keth Warsaw: Meant to say ‘nature’….but I think ‘mature’ will suffice.
@Keth Warsaw: I’m thinking you might be a Barbarian Keth. I’m thinking you might be wanting women barefoot and pregnant and presumably cooking your dinner. You are obsolete Keth past your sell by date.
@Keth Warsaw: Two unrelated words Keth. You being a product of ” western society” I believe given your ability to talk shïte.
@Keth Warsaw: So western birth rates are your main concern Keth? Really?
@Daftbit Jelly: I respectfully disagree Sir. Again, and for the records of futurity, I have no investment in this main subject, but only in examining the claw-like tendrals that the west craves in spreading. Should the headhunters of some distant forest in a far-off region of thus sphere be pulled up and corrected for such ‘deemed’ savagery, or should we let them be and value them as a cultural tidbit?
@Daftbit Jelly: You’re a bounder sir. You, who uses the word ‘daft’ within your moniker. I should add, the robots now inform me that using your name may be perceived as toxic. The humanity!
@Daftbit Jelly: western birthrate my main concern? No. The splicing of the atom and the invention of a device capable of increasing time ratio whilst able to float via anti-gravity pendulums is my main concern. That, and pudding….
@Keth Warsaw – (sorry the reply feature doesn’t seem to work for me)
All this talk about culture is moot in this case. Yes, we in the west have no right to dictate what women of Afghanistan can and can’t do.
If an Afghan woman wants to wear a burqa or stay home from college or whatever in the name of preserving her culture, fine. No one is saying she shouldn’t be allowed. The problem here is *they don’t have the option*. These people *want* to work, to go to school, college, public parks, etc.
The question of whether we have a right to think they should follow our culture goes out the window – (or maybe even works in our favour) when their oppressive culture is being forced upon them at gunpoint!
It’s not about the specific traditions, it’s about them having the choice.
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