Why did GSOC take my case? I don’t know, claims credit union cheat
Complaint against garda thrown out by judge was made by bus driver who the Central Bank found had taken €200,000 from prize draw fund
A RETIRED Dublin Bus driver, who made a ‘self-serving’ complaint to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission against a garda who was last week cleared of any wrongdoing, was under investigation for the misappropriation of a ‘significant sum’ of money, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
David Stamper told the MoS this week that he took the money while he was managing the members’ prize draw at Citybus Credit Union because his wife was sick – and he has been trying to pay it back for the past ‘couple of years’.
In May 2018, the Central Bank issued a Prohibition Notice to Mr Stamper, a former director of Citybus Employees’ Credit Union, following an investigation into his management of the members’ prize draw in Citybus CU and its finding that Mr Stamper was responsible for the misappropriation of a reported €218,000 between 2010 and 2015.
The matter was referred to An Garda Síochána and a criminal investigation – which is ongoing today – got under way.
In September 2018, Mr Stamper was arrested outside Pearse Street Garda Station over a minor road traffic matter. He subsequently put in a complaint to GSOC, which resulted in Garda Noel Gibbons being charged with assault, false imprisonment and giving misleading information to GSOC in connection with the arrest.
Last week a judge criticised GSOC for prosecuting the garda and cleared him of any wrong-doing.
The garda, who is stationed in Pearse Street, arrested Mr Stamper on September 15, 2018 after the bus driver flashed his lights at him for driving in the bus lane and refused to give his name and details when stopped.
Judge Conal Gibbons dismissed the charges and found Garda Gibbons acted lawfully. The judge was scathing in his criticism of GSOC, saying he had concerns that GSOC had not interrogated issues sufficiently.
‘I have to say it is difficult to understand how a relatively minor incident between the garda and another road user metamorphosed into a full-blown prosecution.’
The judge said he did not believe Mr Stamper, who he said failed to co-operate and portrayed himself as a victim in a self-serving complaint.
But the court also briefly heard of a separate Garda investigation into Mr Stamper. Last night, GSOC refused to say whether they were aware of the credit union fraud investigation when they decided to take his complaint on.
Asked this week if GSOC was aware of the money that Mr Stamper had misappropriated, it said it had ‘no comment’ to make.
However, Mr Stamper said this week he is sure Garda Gibbons is a ‘good garda’ and did not expect his complaint to GSOC to ‘go that far’.
Mr Stamper made a complaint on the back of his arrest, telling the MoS: ‘I put the complaint into GSOC and they came back and said they’re taking the case up.
‘All I wanted [was to make a complaint] because I got arrested – I didn’t want to go to court just for the flash of a headlight.
‘I said to the judge it’s ridiculous all these people here in court, and all the time-wasters, and all of GSOC and everybody else just for one flash of a headlight.’
Mr Stamper told the MoS he didn’t
‘It was one flash of a headlight, that’s all’
‘It has nothing to do with the GSOC thing’
expect the complaint would get as far as court. ‘I didn’t think it had to go that far, like I only flashed the headlights once, no beep or horn, no nothing.
‘He [Garda Gibbons] came after me and asked me to come back. I thought at the time you had to be a [more] senior officer than what he was because he was involved in it, but I learned later on in the court that he doesn’t have to be.
‘So that was grand, but he just seemed to go over the top for one flash of a headlight. It wasn’t the way it says in the paper where it sounds like I kept flashing my headlights, it wasn’t, only once.’
He said he first made a complaint to the gardaí and later to GSOC.
‘But that GSOC thing was blown out of proportion, I don’t know why it even went that far. Like even my poor granddaughter had to go into the court, she’s only 15. She did it by videolink. The judge said to me “thanks very much” and I said to the judge, “This is ridiculous, I have nothing against the garda I said. I said he’s probably a good garda, I probably just caught him on a bad day.” We all get bad days.’
Asked about the Central Bank finding against him and the ongoing Garda investigation, he said he had been asked about the issue on the stand.
‘They asked the garda had I told him to search my name on Google and I said no, and then he brought that up, only for a second.
‘It was done because my wife was sick and I’m paying it back.’
Mr Stamper said the figure of €218,000 reported in the fraud case against him was wrong.
‘I don’t know where that figure came from. Just about €100,000, well that’s what they say it still is, but it’s not, I don’t think it’s that anyway. I’ve been paying back for the last couple of years.’
Mr Stamper added that he has heard ‘nothing from GSOC’ since the judge cleared Garda Gibbons of any wrongdoing.