Midlands Garda who gave bicycle to elderly man cleared of wrongdoing

A garda who was suspended for three years after giving an unclaimed bicycle to an elderly man during the pandemic has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

The Midlands based garda was today, Tuesday, cleared of five disciplinary charges against him by an internal board of inquiry.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has this evening welcomed the board’s decision, noting that the investigation showed a “lack of common sense and proportionality”.

The garda gave the elderly man an unclaimed bicycle that had been in the garda station for some time after his own became unusable. However, he failed to fill out the necessary paperwork.

RTÉ News reports that the detectives subsequently retrieved the bicycle from the elderly man and searched the garda's home in June 2020.

According to RTÉ News the garda was reinstated in August last year after the investigation was completed and he was found to have no criminal case to answer.

However disciplinary proceedings were instigated, and he was confined to "restricted duties", which meant he could not deal with the public.

A four-day hearing was held two weeks ago and today the board rejected all five disciplinary charges he had faced and is to publish a report on the matter.

The board’s decision will be sent to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, who can decide to accept or reject it, RTÉ reports.

GRA General Secretary Ronan Slevin told RTÉ NEWS: "This was a case where good, decent community policing which is at the very heart of why we are trusted by the people we serve was blown apart and relationships destroyed.

"In essence I believe a sledgehammer of discipline was used to crack a nut and the reputation of a long-serving member was damaged, his honesty questioned and his livelihood threatened.”