McCabe ‘rumours’ at Garda HQ

A SENIOR garda has told the Charleton tribunal there were rumours circulating in Garda HQ about whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Detective Superintendent Frank Walsh worked as private secretary to the Garda Commissioner until 2016, dealing with protected disclosures. ‘There were rumours circulating about Gda McCabe,’ he said. ‘The rumour machine was in full flight around that time.’

Det Supt Walsh said a correspondence file from Sgt McCabe eventually grew to some 3,500 pages. A summary of Sgt McCabe’s career compiled by the HR department was also part of the file.

In May 2014, a false allegation of sexual assault was wrongly added to the file. When the error came to light a few weeks later, it was not relayed to Garda HQ. Det Supt Walsh said the incorrect allegation was still part of Sgt McCabe’s correspondence file when he left the Commissioner’s office in 2016, and he understood it remained there until early 2017.

Breffni Gordon BL, barrister for Sgt McCabe, said it was ‘remarkable and bizarre’ that there seemed to have been no discussions between senior officers after the false allegations about Sgt McCabe were added to the file.

Det Supt Walsh said he could not say if there were or were not any discussions with the Commissioner, only that none had taken place in his presence.

Earlier, retired assistant commissioner Kieran Kenny told the tribunal that he had not discussed the allegations with the Commissioner when they met in August 2014 to address ‘workplace issues’ experienced by Sgt McCabe.

The tribunal previously heard that the DPP directed in 2007 that no prosecution should be taken against Sgt McCabe following an allegation by a ‘Ms D’ of inappropriate touching. And yesterday it heard a forensic scientist testify that a document from an unrelated case, Ms Y, had been used as a template to create the Ms D notification.

Mark McConnell, of Northern Ireland Forensic Service, examined the files containing the Ms D and Ms Y allegations. Analysis showed some contents of the Ms D document arose from material created previously in the Ms Y file. He said the files didn’t appear to have been interfered with anywhere. The tribunal continues.