A GARDA SERGEANT is accused of asking another, lower ranking garda to avoid making a record of an incident in which the sergeant allegedly assaulted a suspect.

Waterford District Court heard on Monday that Garda Sergeant William Doyle is accused of two charges, one of a section 2 assault against a suspect, under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, and another of attempting to pervert the course of justice by allegedly requesting no record be taken. 

On foot of an investigation by the Garda Ombudsman (GSOC) and a prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), it is alleged that on 9 March 2022, Doyle assaulted a suspect in Waterford Garda Station.

Doyle is “fully contesting” the charges, the court was told.

Gerry Meaney, solicitor for the DPP, told the court that an “alleged incident” occurred in a room of the local station where Doyle and the suspect were located at the time.

After allegedly requesting that no record be taken of the incident, a lower ranking garda who was serving as the member in charge of the station that evening decided to take direction from a separate superior officer.

It’s claimed that it was at that point that the more junior garda made a record of the alleged incident between Doyle and the suspect.

Meaney said the allegations are that the more junior garda was “instructed” by Doyle “not to make any record of the alleged incident” in the room.

Meaney added that the more junior garda would “not have been privy to” to what was alleged to have occurred, but “heard something” occur in the room.

While Meaney said the more junior garda “didn’t initially make any record”, she later “took further direction from a superior officer” and made a record as part of her duties.

“The record was completed in the proper manner,” Meaney said.

He alleged the interaction between Doyle and the more junior garda, who was in charge of the station that evening, was an attempt to “interfere in the course of justice by instructing the garda not to make a record of the alleged incident”.

This lower ranking garda and the second superior officer she spoke to were not named in court.

When Judge John O’Leary asked Meaney what was the relationship between the two gardaí, the solicitor for the State said:

“He was her superior officer.”

Andrew Freeman, solicitor for Doyle, said his client would “fully” contest the charges.

He said it was an “alleged conversation” between Doyle and the Garda member in charge, and that his client denies it took place as claimed. 

Judge O’Leary said that based on what he had heard, he would accept jurisdiction to hear the case at the District Court level rather than the higher Circuit Court.

He said that the charge relating to the alleged perversion of justice was a common law offence of an “attempt,” but which he said “should be treated in the same way as an actual perversion of the course of justice”. 

Meaney, for the state, said there were “quite a few” witnesses to be subpoenaed as part of the case. 

He estimated it would take a full day of the court’s time to hear in full. 

The court will hear an update on the case next month with a full hearing to follow.