Garda Superintendent Acquitted of Assault, Avoids Conviction

A Garda superintendent has been acquitted of assaulting a bar manager and has avoided a recorded conviction for a lesser public order offence following a trial at Dublin District Court. Gavin O’Reilly, aged 41 and from Cavan, faced allegations stemming from an incident at a popular Dublin gay bar on August 26, 2023. He denied the charges of assaulting Emma Parks, the bar manager, and of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour.

The trial, which lasted three days and was conducted without a jury, examined events that took place while O’Reilly was off duty. Judge John Hughes presided over the proceedings and ultimately found that both Parks and bouncer Marcos Peter Inacio were not credible witnesses. The judge dismissed the assault charge after CCTV footage contradicted their testimonies, indicating that Parks had pushed O’Reilly after he returned to the venue to address concerns about noise levels.

Judge Hughes remarked that Parks’ claim regarding O’Reilly’s behaviour was “wholly inconsistent with the CCTV footage.” The footage revealed that O’Reilly had been asked to leave the bar due to intoxication and disruptive conduct. It also showed Parks attempting to film him closely, which escalated the confrontation. The judge noted that O’Reilly was pushed to the ground outside the bar by door staff, and asserted that Parks had confronted him in a humiliating manner.

In delivering his verdict on September 11, 2023, Judge Hughes expressed concern about the ease of making allegations against a member of An Garda Síochána, while also highlighting the legal consequences of false reporting. He found O’Reilly guilty of a public order offence, although he emphasized that the incidents were limited to O’Reilly’s interactions with Parks after he re-entered the bar.

The judge dismissed allegations of racial abuse directed at Inacio. Another doorman, Osmar Fontes, who initially claimed to have heard a racial remark, later admitted during cross-examination that he had not actually witnessed the incident and had only learned about it from Inacio. Judge Hughes also ruled that no offence was committed during O’Reilly’s interaction with police officers who arrived on the scene.

During the trial, Garda Sergeant Niall Godfrey testified that he did not observe any signs of intoxication from O’Reilly and described him as perturbed but not violent. Following the incident, O’Reilly was initially arrested but later de-arrested by the responding officers. The case was subsequently taken over by the Garda Ombudsman for investigation.

O’Reilly’s defence argued that he was physically assaulted by bar staff and that Parks acted provocatively. Senior counsel Garnet Orange, representing O’Reilly, acknowledged that a conviction under the Probation Act could prevent a criminal record, but emphasized that even a minor conviction would reflect poorly on O’Reilly’s otherwise unblemished 21-year career, potentially leading to disciplinary action.

As part of the proceedings, O’Reilly offered to make a charitable donation to a Garda fund aimed at supporting education in developing countries, hoping to have the case dismissed. In his closing remarks, Judge Hughes noted the significant professional and personal toll the trial had taken on O’Reilly. He ordered that O’Reilly donate €1,000 to a registered charity that helps build schools in Gambia. Following this, the judge deemed it appropriate to strike out the remaining charge against the superintendent.