Garda who ‘betrayed’ public’s trust jailed for corruption

A garda has been sentenced at Trim Circuit Court in Co Meath to three years in jail for corruption and deception offences, in what was described as an abuse of his power.

Joseph Doyle, with an address at The Hawthorns, Kilcock, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to 29 sample charges on the third day of his trial last month.

The 38-year-old had been charged with 89 offences of deception, corruption and money laundering between 2018 and 2020.

He entered guilty pleas on 6 June to 11 counts of deception and 18 counts of corruption out of the 89 original charges, through which he received at least €3,585.

At the time of the offences, the father-of-three was a serving member of An Garda Síochána and an acting public service vehicle inspector for Co Meath, based at Navan Garda Station.

He was arrested in April 2021 as part of what was described in court as “an enormously complicated investigation”.

Doyle was suspended on basic pay during the inquiry.

Detective Sergeant James King, from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, told the court today that Doyle had charged PSV (public service vehicle) operators €25 for bogus brake tests, when only one was required under the Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test.

He had also requested €60 payments for Article 60 school bus licences, which are not subject to a charge.

Det Sgt King said Doyle also induced victims into making charitable donations to fictitious causes, including a school, a fundraising sky dive and for a sick child, who the court was told did not exist.

The court heard some of the payments were made in cash, while a number of cheques were made payable to Doyle or his wife.

Prosecuting counsel, Carl Hanahoe, said in one case, when he was challenged about the payments, Doyle said to a PSV operator “what’s your f**king problem with the brake test?”

The court heard he also told the man he would make his life a misery by getting his vehicle stopped at every checkpoint.

Another victim had paid €25 for brake tests on six separate occasions and €100 on the pretext it was a charitable donation.

The court was told the woman said the requests for the money were made in circumstances where she felt vulnerable because Doyle had told the woman that her husband had failed a breath test while driving a school bus.

However, Det Sgt King said there was no evidence of such a breath test taking place.

In victim impact statements read to the court, one woman said she had given Joseph Doyle money for a sick child in good faith for treatment in America.

She said was disgusted the garda had deceived her in such a manner and she said her view of gardaí had been tainted by the incident.

Another victim said his trust in gardaí has been lowered by what happened to him.

He accused Doyle of abusing his power and position and he said he used bully tactics in asking him not to make a statement on the matter.

Defence counsel Kathleen Leader said Doyle had ambitions to become a garda from a very early age, as he wanted to help people.

She told the court he “acknowledges and fully appreciates” that along the way “he lost his own moral compass” and “he has suffered greatly as a result of his own actions.”

Ms Leader said her client very much regrets what he did and is sorry for the distress he has caused to the victims, his colleagues and his own family.

She told the court he also “regrets the shame it has caused on An Garda Síochána and his colleagues” and he is “very ashamed of himself.”

“He is someone who lost his way along the way.”

A number of testimonials were handed into the court including from Doyle’s wife, brother and mother, a basketball club where he has been coaching and a garda colleague.

Ms Leader also told the court that her client was making a sum of €8,000 available to the court, which he raised from selling his car and through contributions from family and friends, that could be used as compensation or a charitable donation.

Doyle’s ‘sole motivation was greed’ – judge

In sentencing, Judge John Martin told Doyle he had held a position of significant importance and authority.

He said he abused his dominant position over a protracted period of time, in a number of ways, affecting multiple parties.

Judge Martin said as no explanation for the actions were provided, he was “left with the conclusion your sole motivation was greed.”

He described the crime as being at the upper end of offending and he said Doyle “betrayed the trust” placed in him by the public and An Garda Síochána.

His actions, the judge added, had undermined public confidence in gardaí.

“You knew you had these people over a barrel and you exploited your position”

The judge also said Doyle had cheated people out of money in a such an emotive way, thinking there were making charitable donations.

He said his decision to seek to benefit from the Kentstown bus crash tragedy in 2005, by using the incident to try to convince his superintendent that more needed to be done for road safety, was “a particularly disturbing factor.”

Judge describes €8,000 offer as ‘genuine expression of remorse’

After mitigation factors were taken in account, Judge Martin handed down a sentence of three and half years, with the final six months suspended, for the corruption charges and three years for the deception charges to run concurrently.

He said Doyle had a “fall from grace” but described the €8,000 offered to the court as “a genuine expression of your remorse.”

He ordered the money be used to reimburse the injured parties, with the balance to be split between the Laura Lynn and Barretstown childrens’ charities.

The court was told that Doyle, who has no previous convictions, intended to resign from An Garda Síochána but Judge Martin ordered the forfeiture of his employment with the force forthwith under section 17 of the Corruption Offences Act 2018.