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State Drops Case Against Three Limerick Gardaí

The collapse has intensified pressure for an independent public inquiry into how the Limerick investigations were run.

Overview

  • Prosecutors ended the case at Limerick Circuit Court on Wednesday by entering a nolle prosequi, a formal decision to stop a prosecution against three Road Policing Unit members.
  • Gardaí Niall Deegan, Peter O'Donnell and Paul Baynham had faced 33 counts over alleged communications said to have sought to pervert public justice in 2017 to 2019 traffic cases.
  • Garda Headquarters later lifted the suspensions on Deegan and Baynham that had been in place since 2020, and O'Donnell retired last month.
  • Solicitor Liz Hughes called the outcome long overdue vindication and said her clients want to return to serve their communities after years off the job.
  • The Garda Representative Association and Labour TD Alan Kelly renewed calls for an independent public inquiry, citing recent jury acquittals of five Limerick colleagues as evidence the wider probe failed.