Latest news with #TomFlavin
BreakingNews.ie
07-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Limerick Garda breaks silence after acquittal in 'nightmare' corruption case
A Garda has broken his silence over a seven-year long probe led by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) that failed to convince a jury he had done wrong. Speaking after the jury in his eight-day trial returned 'not guilty' verdicts last Friday, vindicated Garda Tom Flavin, Rathkeale Garda Station, said: 'The last seven years have been a nightmare for me and my family.' Advertisement Gda Flavin had denied 22 allegations that he had attempted to pervert the course of justice by trying to frustrate criminal prosecutions against individuals, including for driving without insurance. Senior counsel Fiona Murphy, prosecuting in Gda Flavin's trial alleged in court that the evidence would show he had 'sorted out' uninsured drivers by deliberately inputting insurance details into the Garda Pulse computer records system to try to frustrate the potential prosecutions. The jury unanimously disagreed and dismissed the allegations which had flowed from an expensive and top-level GNBC investigation probe that began in 2018. Garda Flavin and his solicitor Dan O'Gorman, have asked why Gda Flavin was brought to trial, when, as his trial heard, there was 'no direct evidence' against him, as it was put by Ms Murphy in court. Advertisement In a statement provided by Mr O'Gorman following the verdicts, Gda Flavin said: 'My elderly unwell parents attended during most of the trial and to witness them in such anxiety and obvious distress will haunt me for a long time.' Garda Flavin said he wished to thank his colleagues as well as members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) 'for all their support'. 'I love and respect my job but I wish that certain quarters would investigate crime in places where crime actually occurs.' 'The whole case asks serious questions of standards and leadership at the upper levels of the Garda force.' Advertisement Near the end of the trial, the jury were directed by trial judge, Colin Daly, to find Gda Flavin not guilty on five of the 22 charges and to deliberate on the remaining 17 counts on the indictment. It took the jury just over three hours to reach unanimous acquittals. In a sharp rebuke of the GNBCI probe, Dan O'Gorman stated: 'Sometime before October 2018 the most equipped and resourced branch of An Garda Síochána, the GNBCI rolled out an investigation of Rathkeale Garda Tom Flavin in relation to the idea that he was perverting the course of justice in preventing certain named individuals being prosecuted for serious driving offences including driving without insurance.' 'The full resources of the investigation were deployed. In October 2018, his family home was searched, personal possessions seized. He was suspended. His reputation was shredded,' Mr O'Gorman said. Calling for an examination of the GNBCI's probe of Gda Flavin, the solicitor added: 'For seven long years he and his family have been in a wasteland of isolation and suspicion Always, he held his head up and protested his innocence. It has been my privilege to have represented him.' Advertisement 'After a trial he has been unanimously acquitted and his journey is over. He is today the man he always was — The innocent Tom Flavin.' 'Serious questions have now to be asked of this elite branch of the Gardaí as to how all of this could have possibly been visited on an innocent man and his family,' Mr O'Gorman added. During the trial Gda Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, had argued that the prosecution had no smoking-gun evidence against Gda Flavin and he asked the jury to dismiss the allegations. Fiona Murphy, prosecuting, had told the jury that the case against Gda Flavin was anchored on 'circumstantial' evidence. Advertisement 'There is no direct evidence, instead the prosecution relies on indirect evidence,' Ms Murphy said. In the statement provided by his solicitor afterwards, Gda Flavin said: 'The whole case asks serious questions of standards and leadership at the upper levels of the Garda force.' Speaking after the trial, Garda Frank Thornton, Garda Representative Association Limerick Division, a former president of the association, said: 'I welcome the jury's verdict as it totally vindicates Garda Flavin of any wrongdoing, but there is now a bigger question that requires an answer: why would it take almost seven years for this case to reach conclusion?' 'This member, like many of his colleagues, has spent years trying to clear his name with a dark cloud of unfair dishonour hanging over him.' Garda Thornton said cases involving Garda members should be dealt with quickly to ensure 'the health and wellbeing of our members, but also to rebuild trust in the communities they serve'.
BreakingNews.ie
06-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Jury dismisses allegations against Garda into alleged 'sorting out' of insurance offences
A serving Garda was found not guilty by a jury of charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice after allegations he 'sorted out' motoring offences for drivers. Garda Tom Flavin was acquitted of a total of 22 counts of allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice by a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court following an eight-day trial. Advertisement On Friday, the jury returned unanimous not guilty verdicts on 17 of the charges. Earlier the jury was directed by the trial judge, Colin Daly, to return not guilty verdicts in respect of five counts against Garda Flavin. The long serving and respected Co Limerick Garda, who had consistently denied all of the charges, was supported in court throughout the trial by a large gathering of family friends and colleagues. On Thursday, Garda Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, urged the jury to acquit the garda of all of the charges, and said there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the accused. Advertisement Garda Flavin was arrested and charged following an investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) and ultimately accused of knowingly entering false motor insurance details on the Garda Pulse computer records system, in an attempt to frustrate potential prosecutions against persons for driving without insurance. His trial heard that the drivers involved were stopped at routine Garda checkpoints around the country and asked by the garda present to produce their insurance and licence details at a nominated Garda station within ten days of the traffic stop. All of the drivers involved nominated Rathkeale garda station, and, later, when the investigating garda in each of the traffic stops carried out follow up checks of Pulse they were satisfied the details entered indicated that the driver in each case was insured. However, the court heard some of the drivers were actually not insured and had actually been prosecuted in court after pleading guilty to driving without insurance. Advertisement Mr Nicholas told the jury Mr Flavin was an exemplary garda who had served with dedication in Croom and Rathkeale, Co Limerick, for many years. The defence barrister had urged the jury to acquit and not fall into the trap of speculation, remarking to the jury that there was radically insufficient evidence to support a conviction against Garda Flavin. 'He (Mr Flavin) served his community without blemish and without any disciplinary blots - you know that from the evidence. "When other gardaí came to give evidence, his superiors, they spoke of him very fondly and well - It wasn't far off gushing and they spoke with knowledge,' Mr Nicholas told the jury in his closing speech, Thursday. Advertisement Mr Nicholas spoke of the 'unique challenges' gardaí face in Rathkeale as opposed to other jurisdictions: 'People who live down here know it has an enormous population, transient, in and out at various times of the year. "One policeman said (the population) quadruples and with that comes its own set of problems and own sets of vehicles - UK car registrations, UK insurance, some not insured, some not being entirely truthful.' 'We know that a certain number of times that people who were pulled up and stopped and asked for their documentation, produced bogus insurance certificates.' Mr Nicholas said the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, is an extraordinarily, serious allegation to make against a serving garda and that the State had 'nothing close' to proving its case. Advertisement The court heard evidence that persons had provided certain documents at Rathkeale garda station, where Garda Flavin was based at the time, however it was unclear who produced the documents nor was it clear what documents they produced. Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, had alleged that the evidence would show that Gda Flavin had 'sorted out' the uninsured drivers by inputting data into Pulse to try to frustrate prosecutions against them. However, Ms Murphy had told the jury that the prosecution case was 'a circumstantial case' with 'no direct evidence'. 'Instead, the prosecution relies on indirect evidence,' Ms Murphy said. Ireland Coroner returns verdict of accidental death after... Read More Ms Murphy had explained to the jury that a statute of limitation of 'six months' generally applied in respect of prosecuting offences of driving without insurance. She had argued that all of the relevant data entries into Pulse 'were entered under the ID of Thomas Flavin' and she had alleged that 'Tom Flavin knew they (the drivers) were not covered (by insurance) and that he entered the details onto PULSE to ensure they (appeared) covered'. 'Mr Flavin knew what he was doing, and he did so to ensure those persons were insured (on PULSE) when they were not, in order to ensure there was no prosecution,' Ms Murphy had alleged in court. However, after deliberating for three hours and 21 minutes, the jury disagreed and unanimously dismissed all of the allegations that had been made against Gda Flavin, following an expensive and top-level GNBCI (Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation) probe.
BreakingNews.ie
05-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Jury told to find Garda not guilty on five of 22 allegations related to motoring prosecutions
A jury in the trial of a Limerick Garda accused of 'sorting out' motoring offences for drivers were on Thursday directed by the trial judge to find him not guilty of some of the charges. Tom Flavin, (51), Rathkeale Garda Station, Co Limerick, should be acquitted of all of the charges as there is no real evidence against him, his barrister, senior counsel, Mark Nicholas, said in his closing speech to the jury. Advertisement Mr Flavin went on trial before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on May 27th accused of 22 counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Today, senior prosecuting counsel, Fiona Murphy, told the jury they were to find Mr Flavin not guilty of five of the charges and that they would consider verdicts on the 17 remaining counts. Mr Flavin, who denies all the charges, is accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice by entering false motor insurance details on the Garda Pulse records computer system, in an attempt to frustrate potential prosecutions against persons for driving without insurance. The drivers involved were stopped at routine Garda checkpoints around the country and asked by the garda present to produce their insurance and licence details at a nominated Garda station within 10 days of the traffic stop. Advertisement All of the drivers asked to do this nominated Rathkeale Garda Station. Later, when the investigating garda in each of the stops carried out follow-up checks of Pulse, they were satisfied that details entered into the system indicated that the driver in each case was insured. However, the court heard the drivers were not insured, and some were even prosecuted in court afterwards after pleading guilty to driving without insurance at the time they were stopped. In his closing speech to the jury, Mr Nicholas SC, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, described Mr Flavin as an exemplary garda who had served with dedication in Croom and Rathkeale, Co Limerick, for many years. Urging the jury to acquit Mr Flavin and not fall into the trap of speculation, Mr Nicholas added there was radically insufficient evidence to support a conviction. Advertisement 'He served his community without blemish and without any disciplinary blots - you know that from the evidence. When other Gardai came to give evidence, his superiors, they spoke of him very fondly and well - It wasn't far off gushing, and they spoke with knowledge,' Mr Nicholas told the jury. The defence barrister spoke of the 'unique challenges' Gardai face in Rathkeale as opposed to other jurisdictions. 'People who live down here know it has an enormous population, transient, in and out at various times of the year. One policeman said (the population) quadruples and with that comes its own set of problems and own sets of vehicles - UK car registrations, UK insurance, some not insured, some not being entirely truthful.' 'We know that a certain number of times that people who were pulled up and stopped and asked for their documentation, produced bogus insurance certificates.' Advertisement Mr Nicholas said the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice is an extraordinarily serious allegation to make against a serving Garda. 'That he (Mr Flavin) must have deliberately, knowing the (insurance) certificate to be false, inputted it into the system with the intention that it would frustrate a prosecution. There has been nothing close to this level of proof in this case whatsoever,' added Mr Nicholas. The court heard evidence of persons providing documents at Rathkeale Garda station, however it was unclear who exactly produced what at the Garda station, and what exactly was produced. Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, said all of the relevant data entries onto Pulse 'were entered under the ID of Thomas Flavin'. Advertisement Ms Murphy told the jury that a statute of limitation of 'six months' generally applied in respect of prosecuting offences of driving without insurance. 'It is the prosecution's case that Tom Flavin knew they (the motorists involved) were not covered (by insurance) and that he entered the details onto PULSE to ensure they (appeared) covered,' Ms Murphy told the jury. Ireland Priest calls for end to violent feud in Limerick a... Read More 'Mr Flavin knew what he was doing, and he did so to ensure those persons were insured (on Pulse) when they were not, in order to ensure there was no prosecution,' Ms Murphy alleged. The prosecuting barrister told the jury that Tom Flavin enjoyed the presumption of innocence and that the burden of proof 'beyond a reasonable doubt' was all on the prosecution while Mr Flavin 'has nothing to prove'. Ms Murphy told the jury the prosecution's case was 'a circumstantial case, there is no direct evidence, instead the prosecution relies on indirect evidence'. It is anticipated that the jury will retire to consider its verdicts on each of the 17 counts on Friday.
BreakingNews.ie
29-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Garda denies 22 counts of perverting course of justice over road traffic offences
When gardaí carried out checks of persons stopped for traffic violations on the Garda 'PULSE' computer records system, they were satisfied these individuals had produced their insurance documents, however, in fact, they were not insured, a court heard. Evidence is continuing in the trial of a Limerick Garda who is accused of 'sorting out' potential prosecutions for motorists who were stopped by gardaí and found without their driving license or motor insurance details/certificates. Advertisement Tom Flavin, (51), with an address in west County Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to 22 counts of perverting the course of justice. Mr Flavin's trial is being heard before judge Colin Daly and a jury of eight men and four women at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court. Several Garda prosecution witnesses called by the prosecution gave evidence of stopping vehicles in various parts of the country and requesting the motorist to produce their driving licence and insurance details. When the driver was not able to do this at the side of the road, they were given the opportunity to nominate a Garda station where they would produce their documents within ten days. All the drivers, who were living in or near Rathkeale, nominated their local station. Advertisement The Garda witnesses said that, later, where they checked PULSE, they believed documents had been produced. However, the court heard that some of the motorists were not insured, and they subsequently pleaded guilty and were convicted of driving without insurance. One of the Garda witnesses said they had checked with an insurance company about one of the motorists, and were informed the company did not have a policy for the driver. The Garda witnesses agreed under cross examination by Mr Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas with barrister Amy Nix, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, that, while they had satisfied themselves, from checking the PULSE system that documents had been produced, they did not actually know what had been produced at the garda station, nor did they know who had received the documents. Sergeant Martin Egan, Policy Enforcement Unit of Road Traffic Legislation, An Garda Siochana, told the court that Gardai, who receive motorists documents following a traffic stop, are expected to enter the insurance and licence details into PULSE via the computer records 'DLIP' Driving licence Insurance Production feature. Advertisement Sergeant Egan agreed with senior prosecution counsel Fiona Murphy that the PULSE system 'automatically' notes or records the identity of a Garda who enters information into PULSE. In her opening address to the jury last Tuesday, Ms Murphy, with Maddie Grant BL, instructed by solicitor Lisa O'Reilly, office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, said allegations of wrongdoing surfaced against Mr Flavin when he was serving out of Rathkeale Garda Station, in respect of a number of traffic stops on roads around the country, on dates between November 2016 and September 2018. 'Information came to light concerning a Garda allegedly engaged in sorting out driving insurance detections for individuals - that Garda was Tom Flavin,' Ms Murphy alleged. Mr Flavin is charged that, on the above dates, he did an act, namely to enter or cause to be entered, certain information on the Garda PULSE system, which had a tendency or was intended to pervert the course of justice in respect of the prosecution of named persons for the offence of driving without insurance. Advertisement Ms Murphy said the prosecution's case was that Tom Flavin allegedly entered details into PULSE relating to persons motor insurance certificates 'which suggested they were in order, when they weren't'. Ms Murphy said the jury would hear allegations that 'alterations' were made to the information being input into the PULSE system, and that the prosecution would show that 'Tom Flavin made these entries'. He told the jury that when a garda is logged into the PULSE system they automatically leave a 'digital footprint'. She said the prosecution would produce 'CCTV and phone evidence which would corroborate' these allegations. Ms Murphy told the jury that Mr Flavin was entitled to the presumption of innocence unless the jury otherwise found that the allegations against him were proved 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. Advertisement Ireland Donegal farmer who broke man's eye socket avoids j... Read More The prosecution barrister said the 'burden of proof' lies with the prosecution, and that Mr Flavin does not have to prove anything. She said the jury were 'not entitled to speculate' in the case, and they must only consider evidence heard in court when reaching a verdict. Judge Colin Daly issued a warning to the jury members 'not to conduct your own investigations' into anyone involved in the trial; to avoid media coverage of the trial; and not to discuss the case with anyone outside of the jury. The trial is continuing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
Irish Daily Mirror
29-05-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Garda denies 22 counts of perverting course of justice on road traffic offences
When Gardai carried out checks of persons stopped for traffic violations on the Garda "PULSE" computer records system, they were satisfied these individuals had produced their insurance documents, however, in fact, they were not insured, a court heard. Evidence is continuing in the trial of a Limerick Garda who is accused of "sorting out" potential prosecutions for motorists who were stopped by Gardai and found without their driving licence or motor insurance details/certificates. Tom Flavin, (51), with an address in west Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to 22 counts of perverting the course of justice, contrary to Common Law. Mr Flavin's trial is being heard before judge Colin Daly and a jury of eight men and four women at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court. Several Garda prosecution witnesses called by the prosecution gave evidence of stopping vehicles in various parts of the country and requesting the motorist to produce their driving licence and insurance details. When the driver was not able to do this at the side of the road, they were given the opportunity to nominate a Garda station where they would produce their documents within 10 days. All the drivers, who were living in or near Rathkeale, nominated their local station. The Garda witnesses said that, later, where they checked PULSE, they believed documents had been produced. However, the court heard that some of the motorists were not insured, and they subsequently pleaded guilty and were convicted of driving without insurance. One of the Garda witnesses said they had checked with an insurance company about one of the motorists, and were informed the company did not have a policy for the driver. The Garda witnesses agreed under cross-examination by Mr Flavin's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas with barrister Amy Nix, instructed by solicitor Dan O'Gorman, that, while they had satisfied themselves, from checking the PULSE system that documents had been produced, they did not actually know what had been produced at the garda station, nor did they know who had received the documents. Sergeant Martin Egan, Policy Enforcement Unit of Road Traffic Legislation, An Garda Siochana, told the court that Gardai, who receive motorists' documents following a traffic stop, are expected to enter the insurance and licence details into PULSE via the computer records "DLIP" Driving licence Insurance Production feature. Sergeant Egan agreed with senior prosecution counsel Fiona Murphy that the PULSE system "automatically" notes or records the identity of a Garda who enters information into PULSE. In her opening address to the jury last Tuesday, Ms Murphy, with Maddie Grant BL, instructed by solicitor Lisa O'Reilly, office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, said allegations of wrongdoing surfaced against Mr Flavin when he was serving out of Rathkeale Garda Station, in respect of a number of traffic stops on roads around the country, on dates between November 2016 and September 2018. "Information came to light concerning a Garda allegedly engaged in sorting out driving insurance detections for individuals - that Garda was Tom Flavin," Ms Murphy alleged. Mr Flavin is charged that, on the above dates, he did an act, namely to enter or cause to be entered, certain information on the Garda PULSE system, which had a tendency or was intended to pervert the course of justice in respect of the prosecution of named persons for the offence of driving without insurance. Ms Murphy said the prosecution's case was that Tom Flavin allegedly entered details into PULSE relating to persons' motor insurance certificates "which suggested they were in order, when they weren't". Ms Murphy said the jury would hear allegations that "alterations" were made to the information being input into the PULSE system, and that the prosecution would show that "Tom Flavin made these entries". Ms Murphy told the jury that when a Garda is logged into the PULSE system they automatically leave a "digital footprint". She said the prosecution would produce "CCTV and phone evidence which would corroborate" these allegations. Ms Murphy told the jury that Mr Flavin was entitled to the presumption of innocence unless the jury otherwise found that the allegations against him were proved "beyond a reasonable doubt". The prosecution barrister said the "burden of proof" lies with the prosecution, and that Mr Flavin does not have to prove anything. She said the jury were "not entitled to speculate" in the case, and they must only consider evidence heard in court when reaching a verdict. Judge Colin Daly issued a warning to the jury members "not to conduct your own investigations" into anyone involved in the trial; to avoid media coverage of the trial; and not to discuss the case with anyone outside of the jury. The trial is continuing at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
