Article: Gardaí find fresh excuses to delete penalty points

Gardaí have continued to abuse the penalty points system by changing the excuses to avoid detection in any audits.

As further details of the continuing abuse emerged, the Irish Examiner has learned that whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe has been asked to assist the Professional Standards Unit in a bid to crack down on the abuse.

It comes as acting commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan faces more embarrassing questions about why gardaí continued to abuse the system despite changes being made and commitments given by her office.

Thousands of suspicious deletions of penalty points for members of the force, and friends or family, have occurred since the matter first came to public attention over 18 months ago.

However, the new deletions did not use any of the “exotic” excuses that were cited in the earlier controversy. Instead, officers used a number of new excuses that would not ordinarily have aroused suspicions. The vast majority of deletions were for repeat offenders.

The excuses included:

-“Statutory exemption. Emergency Vehicle” — this reason is valid if the detected vehicle was operating on behalf of the force. However, in a number of cases, private vehicles were the source of the detection, including commercial vans, and, in one case, a silver BMW, a model not used by the force.

-“Undelivered An Post” — this reason is valid if the address of a detected vehicle’s owner cannot be established. However, since 2013, it has been used widely. For one repeat offender, it was used three times since September of last year.

-“Townland Incorrect” — in a number of cases exclusively involving members of the force, this excuse was inputted to delete the points. However, all other motorists caught at the same location at that time had to pay the fine and accept the penalty points.

-“Public Interest Sufficient Grounds.” — this would include a narrow category of detections but since early 2013 has been used on a number of occasions for repeat offenders.

The abuse continued even after the announcement on June 18 that deletions would henceforth only be done from the central processing office in Thurles. One member of the force who had five deletions in the past 18 months, had the last one on June 28, 10 days after that announcement.

Another repeat offender had his last deletion just last month. The Irish Examiner understands that despite the new rule brought in by the interim commissioner, these deletions were carried out at regional offices rather than the central processing office.

The abuse was brought to Commissioner O’Sullivan’s attention a fortnight ago, through Sgt McCabe, who was alerted to the abuses by other officers. She referred the matter to the justice minister, requesting that the Garda Ombudsman Commission be appointed to conduct a public interest investigation. According to a spokesman, the matter is now the focus of a GSOC investigation.

“An Garda Síochána takes any allegations of members not correctly implementing policies and procedures in relation to the Fixed Charge Penalty System very seriously,” he said.

“These allegations are currently being examined by senior management. If any infringement of these policies and procedures is found to have taken place then action will be taken.”

The new revelations appear to show that despite the major controversies, including the resignations of both a Garda commissioner and a minister for justice, a number of senior officers continued to delete points on suspicious grounds, albeit in a manner that might well have escaped detection.

Michael Clifford

Maurice McCabe: Al