Updated 22.44
AN UNNAMED SUPERINTENDENT at Bailieboro Garda Station was informed of sexual harassment against a young female probationary Garda, but failed to act, whistleblower Maurice McCabe told barrister Séan Guerin.
McCabe told Guerin that he brought the concerns of the female Garda – that she had been harassed by an unnamed male colleague – to the Superintendent ‘refused and failed to deal with the matter’.
McCabe alleges in the Guerin Report that the female Garda had to leave the station, after the Superintendent wanted to put her working with her harasser.
The male Garda was subsequently found guilty of 12 breaches of discipline by an internal investigation, led by Chief Superintendent Terry McGlinn.
The Superintendent, who was the District Officer at the time, does not dispute that he was made aware of the harassment, but it was McCabe who moved the complainant andher harasser to separate units, so that they did not have to work together.
According to the Guerin Report, McCabe and the Superintendent discussed the matter, differing on how to properly handle it.
The DPP ruled that there should be no prosecution in the case, but the male Garda had his pay docked, among other internal measures.
However, Guerin found that the allegations made by the female Garda are “not reflective of any broader trend visible” and that there was no “general failure on behalf of [the Superintendent] to deal with allegations of that nature”.
Guerin finds that there is no “reasonable cause for concern as to the adequacy of the investigation” nor is there sufficient concern that An Garda Síochána didn’t deal with the matter fully.
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