Waterford Garda Sergeant convicted of perverting the course of justice and assault

Sgt Doyle was charged with a Section 2 assault charge against a man in custody under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Persons Act, and a further charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice by requesting no record be taken.

The court, having heard evidence at two previous sittings, was told of there being a ‘commotion’ in a room at Waterford Garda Station on March 9, 2022, and that a slap was heard, while a prisoner accused of assault was being detained.

There was also evidence that Sgt Doyle was seen standing over the prisoner with his hand on their shoulders when other gardaí returned to the room in question. At this stage, the prisoner immediately said he had been assaulted by the sergeant.

Judge’s ruling

In giving his verdict, Judge O’Leary said Doyle had led his junior colleague, who was then on probation, into a trap of falsifying the record, and that the public needed to have confidence in record keeping for prisoners.

Judge O’Leary said he rejected Doyle’s stance and said that the sergeant had led Garda Pratt into a trap of falsifying the record, which she did, only to change the entry later.

This, said Judge O’Leary, amounted to “concealing or failing to report” the incident concerning the prisoner in the fingerprinting room at the station.

Judge O’Leary praised Garda Pratt for reversing the incorrect record entry later, and also giving “very honest evidence” during the case. He added that Sgt Doyle had power over Garda Pratt who behaved as any supervisee would in the situation.

Judge O’Leary added: “On what he called the more serious charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, the Sergeant in asking Garda Pratt to falsify the custody record confirms Doyle’s guilt of the Section 2 assault.”

He said:

There is no other plausible or reasonably plausible conclusion.

On the assault charge, the judge said he was fully satisfied that the accused stood above the prisoner when he was sitting down and vulnerable and assaulted him in a way that went way beyond any reasonable force.

He also accepted that the prisoner had subjected Sgt Doyle to “torrents of abuse prior to the assault”.

Judge O’Leary accepted mitigation from Defence Counsel, David Staunton, in that Doyle was a long-serving member of An Garda Siochána, of good standing, and would likely immediately lose his job as a result of the conviction.

Prosecuting Counsel, David Perry, said a Victim Impact Statement was available to the court.

Mr Perry read the Victim Impact Statement into the record, which stated “he should have been left safe in the station but was instead beaten and attacked”. He further thanked one of the gardaí for coming to his assistance following the incident.

Judge O’Leary, however, said he would pay no attention whatsoever to photographs submitted to demonstrate injuries allegedly incurred during the assault.

“Some of them or all of the injuries may have occurred prior to his arrest earlier that morning or even during the arrest by a separate garda.”

However, Judge O’Leary found him guilty on both charges, and said that he should complete 80 hours of community service, in lieu of a prison term of four months, in relation to attempting to pervert the course of justice charge, which he said was the more serious count.

He took the assault charge into consideration for sentencing purposes. The judge indicated that recognizances in the event of an appeal would be €500 in the defendant’s own bond.

Case summary

At an earlier sitting of the court, Sgt Doyle strongly rejected an allegation that he had assaulted a prisoner in his 20s in Waterford Garda Station on March 9, 2022, after the man had been arrested on suspicion of committing an assault at about 6am that day that left another man in hospital.

Garda Rachel Pratt had testified at an earlier hearing that she was the member in charge on the day in question when the suspect in the assault became very aggressive and he was brought into the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) room at about 11am.

Garda Pratt told Prosecution Barrister, David Perry, BL, she had been in the public office when she heard “commotion and shouting” coming from the AFIS room, and when she went to investigate, she saw two gardaí in the corridor outside the AFIS room door which was ajar.

She said when she opened the door, she saw Sgt Doyle standing over the suspect, who was sitting in a chair. “Sgt Doyle had him pinned against the window, he was using his forearm pressed between his neck and chest area.”

Sgt Doyle strongly rejected the suggestion that he had put his forearm on the man’s neck, stating that he was in his office across from the AFIS room when he saw that the suspect was becoming aggressive and therefore went over to try and calm him down.

Two other officers, Det. Garda Darren Colfer and Garda Sean Lane, who were with the suspect, testified at an earlier hearing, that the man was highly aggressive and abusive, and that when Sgt Doyle entered the AFIS room to get him to calm down, he had also become abusive to Sgt Doyle.

‘Give me two secs there, lads’

Garda Lane said that after a minute or so, Sgt Doyle said to them “give me two seconds there lads” which they interpreted as him wanting them to leave the room and, as he was their superior officer, they both exited the room into the corridor.

Garda Lane said the door was left “slightly open” and they heard a commotion in the room involving some pushing, “hitting off the chair, hitting off the printer, wardrobe, you could hear something was happening in there” and the man later alleged he was assaulted by Sgt Doyle.

However, Sgt Doyle told the hearing that when he asked the two officers to “give me two secs there, lads”, he was simply asking them to leave him alone in the room with the suspect.

Sgt Doyle also denied punching the man in the chest in the custody area, and said what Garda Pratt had seen him doing was putting his open palm on the man’s sternum and pushing back, in line with Garda training to put a safe space between them, as he feared the man was about to assault him.

He also denied that he instructed Garda Pratt not to “mention what happened in the AFIS room” when she went into his office to ask what she should fill into the custody register at 11.05am.

Garda Pratt had told Garda Siochana Ombudsman (GSOC) investigators that she “didn’t feel right doing it, but I did it”. However, Sgt Doyle had told the earlier hearing that Garda Pratt was incorrect.

“I said, Rachel, you have to put it in the custody record — I had to defend myself,” adding, “she asked me what she should write in the register, and I said, I can’t put words in your mouth, but the matter needs to be recorded.”