It has been revealed that a top Garda has been suspended after independent investigators requested that he face charges related to an event that occurred in a pub in Dublin. According to the Irish Mirror, the senior officer was informed of his suspension on Christmas Eve, reports The Mirror.
Following news that policing watchdog GSOC had forwarded a dossier to the Director of Public Prosecutions on the purported incident at a central Dublin pub in late August 2023, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris ordered the officer’s suspension.
According to sources, the GSOC suggested that the senior officer face several charges, but the DPP has not yet taken a decision on the matter. The officer vehemently denies any misconduct, reports The Mirror.
At the end of the event, he is accused of racially abusing a male bouncer at the pub, a charge he disputes. He is also accused of knocking a female boss’s phone out of her grasp. He refutes such accusation as well.
Although the officer has been the subject of a 14-month GSOC inquiry, he has never been arrested or disciplined. However, once it was revealed that the GSOC had suggested that he be charged with a crime related to the event, Mr. Harris ordered his suspension, reports The Mirror.
According to sources, the DPP will probably decide in the upcoming weeks whether to charge the officer.
A senior officer’s suspension was confirmed by the Garda Press to The Irish Mirror on Friday.
A spokesman said: “An alleged incident involving an off-duty Garda in Dublin city centre, was referred to GSOC under Section 85 of the Garda SÃochána Act. The garda in question was suspended from duty in recent weeks,” reports The Mirror.
According to sources, the inquiry is related to a complaint filed with GSOC over the August 26, 2023, incident outside a north inner city centre. At 10 p.m., the officer and two of his friends from the civilian world were asked to leave the bar due to a little disagreement, which sparked the incident.
As the three of them departed, the senior officer paused at the door and requested to speak with a management, reports The Mirror.
Sources claim that when that request was denied, a bouncer intervened and touched the cop as he was leaving.
The senior officer allegedly made a racist remark in response to the bouncer’s intervention, which he vehemently disputes, according to sources, reports The Mirror.
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