Parking ticket case against Superintendent is probed
A chief superintendent has been appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the failed prosecution of a superintendent by one of his gardaí.
Judge Kevin Kilrane dismissed the prosecution of Carrick- on- Shannon Superintendent Kevin English for an alleged parking offence taken by Garda Sinead Killian and accused the garda of being driven “out of malice”.
Gda Killian rejected this claim in court and said she was simply doing her job. Judge Kilrane, in his ruling at the district court in Carrick- on- Shannon, said at the time Gda Killian was the subject of a disciplinary action brought by Supt English. He said it was “completely inappropriate” for her to have involved herself with an investigation into Supt English.
The court heard Gda Killian was the observer in a patrol car being driven by a colleague, Garda Dermot O’Connell, in Carrick- on- Shannon, on August 20, 2015.
Both gardaí said an elderly woman motioned at them to stop and told them a car was parked on a footpath at the side of the Landmark Hotel and they went to investigate. Gda Killian said the car was parked the whole way up on the footpath and she knew that it belonged to Supt English. She said she had filed a fixed charge penalty notice for an alleged parking offence, but that it was not paid and a summons was issued. Judge Kilrane said he believed that the elderly lady mentioned by both gardaí did not exist. In his ruling, he urged authorities “up as far as the Garda Commissioner” to investigate the case.