Female Garda attacked by taxi-driver

punchestown

Garda 'made false claims after row with taxi driver'

By Stephen O'Farrell


Tuesday September 23 2008

A FEMALE garda has been accused of making a false statement to gardai alleging that she was attacked by a taxi driver, a court heard yesterday.



Niamh O'Connor (24) from, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, appeared before Dublin District Court yesterday on a charge of providing false information.

Sergeant Ronan Muldoon told the court that Ms O'Connor made a statement at Donnybrook garda station in Dublin alleging that she was attacked on her way home in the early hours of December 28 2007.

Ms O'Connor hailed a taxi on Camden Street and asked to be taken to Balinteer, Sgt Muldoon said.

She said the taxi driver asked her if it was all right if he dropped off another passenger, already in the front seat, in Rathmines, according to Sgt Muldoon's evidence. Ms O'Connor told gardai that she didn't realise until they were outside Herbert Park that the passenger was still in the car.

She alleged that the car stopped and another man got out of the boot. The three men then attacked her, she said.

Sgt Muldoon said Ms O'Connor told him and his colleague that she had her dress ripped and her tights torn before escaping the men's advances.

But Ms O'Connor admitted later that day that she fabricated her statement because she had a disagreement with the taxi driver, Sgt Muldoon said.

Judge Clare Leonard asked Sgt Muldoon what the disagreement had been over, but he said that Ms O'Connor could not remember.

Admission

Sgt Muldoon said that Ms O'Connor had told gardai, following her admission, that she had torn her own dress.

The case was deferred until October 13 due to a dispute over jurisdiction -- on whether the case should be heard in the District Court or to a higher court.

Defence counsel Martin Moran told Justice Leonard that he required time to consider garda statements and obtain reports.

"I'll be in a better position to persuade you on jurisdiction then," he said.

Judge Leonard granted Mr Moran's request. But she described the case as very serious and said she was not usually persuaded on jurisdiction.

:eek:

Geri Boyle

Thats very sad. Not least that the woman abused her position as a member, but for any sexual abuse victim whose situation has been doubted due to a number of women falsely crying rape. What a horrible thing to do to that poor taxi driver. That woman could easily have ruined his life. Will she be sacked does anyone know/ think?

TheNog

If that woman is found quilty I think a dismissal would be on the cards alright and rightly so.


The worst thing a man can do to a woman is sexual assault, the worst thing a woman can do to a man is falsely accuse him of sexual assault.

djtechnics1210

Id say dismissal will be the word she hears after court case is finished

TheNog

djtechnics1210 wrote: »

Id say dismissal will be the word she hears after court case is finished

even if dosnt go to court

djtechnics1210

More than likely - id say she could be internally disciplined under various discipline regulations, which would inevitably lead to dismissal or mutual resignation. couldn't keep a person that makes false statements in the job - hard enough to keep a good public image of the force without this kind of thing - i don't know full circumstances of case so not gonna comment on individual.
*not wanting to start a row, but how often do you hear of females that make false statements being brought to court even when they admit its false - first time iv seen a case like this in the courts/news

daisey

people like her make the decent and hard working gardai look bad. alot of ppl already have bad opinions of the guards. if she gets away with this then id imagine it would just confirm the ppls concerns. this is someone that just likes the power that comes with the job and should not have gotten into the gardai in the first place :mad:

Geri Boyle

I think that's a valid point. No member would like to be associated or categorised with a person who would call the profession into disrepute in this manner. However I think the damage she has done to the reputation of An Garda Siochána pales in comparison to what she has done as a human being, to another human being.
That taxi driver could have lost not only his reputation, but his freedom, his family, his friends, his job and ultimately his life as he knows it. Not to mention what sexual abuse victims would have to make of the whole incident. All actions have consequences. As a member of An Garda Siochana, this woman should have realised that more than anyone.

As was said already, I have never heard of a woman being prosecuted for making such claims either.
Perhaps AGS and the justice system will make an example out of her and maybe make someone else think twice about doing the same thing.
Whatever happens, I will be very interested to see what the outcome will be.

law999

03/12/2007 - 13:44:32
A west Dublin woman whose father said "she was bad from the day she was born" has been jailed for falsely claiming he raped and sexually abused her.

The 35-year-old woman was convicted by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury in October of making the false statements at the Rathmines Womens’ Refuge on July 20 and 24, 2002.

Judge Hunt imposed a four year term on the woman who cannot be named for legal reasons and said he could not think of a more serious allegation than that of a father being accused of raping his daughter.

"I can only imagine the distress this father suffered," he said. Judge Hunt also commented on "the wider social implications" of people making false rape accusations which he said "are damaging in that they have the serious knock-on effect of bringing about a rise in the disbelief for genuine rape victims".

"Finally, one has to mention the waste of time and resources of the gardaí and the Sexual Assault unit in the Rotunda Hospital," Judge Hunt added and suspended the final two years of her sentence on the condition that she remain working with the Probation Services for a period of three years.

The guilty verdicts were by 10-2 majority and came at the end of an eight-day trial. The jury found her not guilty on 11 further charges alleging she made false statements under section 12 of the Criminal Law Act to gardai on dates from May 15, 2002 to July 31, 2002.

klong

djtechnics1210 wrote: »

Id say dismissal will be the word she hears after court case is finished

If you see the latest Garda Review, that's exactly what happened.

Geri Boyle

klong wrote: »

If you see the latest Garda Review, that's exactly what happened.

She was dismissed already? Even before the court case?

djtechnics1210

klong wrote: »

If you see the latest Garda Review, that's exactly what happened.

I heard shes still working

klong

djtechnics1210 wrote: »

I heard shes still working

Interesting. Appeal, perhaps?

djtechnics1210

klong wrote: »

Interesting. Appeal, perhaps?

possibly, interesting to see how that will go

Geri Boyle

punchestown wrote: »

The case was deferred until October 13 due to a dispute over jurisdiction .

Anyone hear any updates on this?

hexagramer

im sure this is is one of many abusive cases in the going-ons of the gardai. pitty really

daisey

daisey wrote: »

people like her make the decent and hard working gardai look bad.

lol. you crack me up:D

MagicMarker

She shouldn't just be dismissed, she should also receive a prison sentence.

deadwood

If this case is still ongoing, I think you may want to hold off/lock this discussion until after sentencing.
Worth serious discussion but let the case run its' course first.

Haz33

klong wrote: »

If you see the latest Garda Review, that's exactly what happened.

Just looking at the review there. There was a female Garda dismissed but it is a different name to the one mentioned here.

by8auj6csd3ioq

Haz33 wrote: »

Just looking at the review there. There was a female Garda dismissed but it is a different name to the one mentioned here.

where in the review is the story, in the online edition? Oh i see it is only for members

Lady Ice

Hi there, anyone heard any more on this story? Last I heard in October they were going to court in november I thought yesterday 24th, but I haven't heard anything, and what about her previous? Anyone else heard about that?

deadwood

Mods,
If this is ongoing, this thread should be locked.
Potential rectruits should be wary of discussing legal/disciplinary matters online.

daisey

Deleted User wrote: »

lol. you crack me up:D

ha i know what your thinkin and seein that she got away wit it im starting to think the same in my opinion she's a thug wearing the wrong uniform :mad:

brayblue24

Mods,

If this matter is sub judice this thread should be locked immediately

civdef

Agreed, not sure how a thread like this snuck into the recruitment section tbh.