Former Labour Party leader Alan Kelly TD has described the prosecution of the garda involved in a 2021 crash that killed three men on the M7 as “simply disgraceful”.
“I couldn’t believe it that we found out from a coroner’s report that this garda is going to be charged,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court last week heard the Director for Public Prosecutions has directed a garda involved in the pursuit of the three males, who were members of a Tallaght-based criminal gang that specialised in burglaries, is to be charged with a driving offence.
“As I’m talking to you, he still doesn’t know what he’s been charged with, which is absolutely incredible,” Mr Kelly said. “These three individuals, unfortunately, died at this incident, but these three individuals had over 200 convictions.
Markets in Vienna or Christmas at The Shelbourne? 10 holiday escapes over the festive season
Stealth sackings: why do employers fire staff for minor misdemeanours?
Michael Harding: I went to the cinema to see Small Things Like These. By the time I emerged I had concluded the film was crap
Look inside: 1950s bungalow transformed into modern five-bed home in Greystones for €1.15m
“These individuals went down the wrong side of a motorway, and through their driving they ended up being in an crash which unfortunately they died from,” Mr Kelly said.
“Now it is a garda who was driving the car who was trying to apprehend them when they refused to stop, who’s been charged.
“These gardaí were doing their job – they’re trained, they’re doing their job. The idea that we are going to be able to get recruits when this is what’s going to happen to some of them if they do their job properly,” he said.
“It’s saying to criminals: drive down the wrong side of a bus lane or a road or on a footpath – the gardaí won’t pursue because they were afraid they’re gonna get prosecuted themselves.
“It’s been said at the Coroner’s Court that this is pending, so he’s sitting there doing his job, waiting for this phone call or the summons,” Mr Kelly said.
“Granted, if gardaí do wrong, of course, they have to be treated the exact same way as anyone else.
“The idea that gardaí should be prosecuted simply is disgraceful. You might as well make tea for the criminals at this rate instead of being able to apprehend them.”
The three victims – Dean Maguire (29), Karl Freeman (26) and Graham Taylor (31) – were killed instantly when their BMW burst into flames following a head-on crash with a truck between Citywest and Baldonnel on July 7th, 2021, while they were driving on the wrong side of the carriageway.
Coroner Clare Keane was informed last week the DPP had taken the decision to initiate the prosecution based on a file submitted by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, which investigated the fatal crash.