Tag Archives: GSOC

Polla

 

You may recall a story from August of last year by Ed Vulliamy in The Observer, claiming a small oil services company called OSSL gifted sweeteners to residents and gardaí of Rossport, Co. Mayo, on behalf of Shell from 2002 to 2010 – including a delivery of €35,000 of alcohol to Belmullet Garda Station in 2007.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission subsequently carried out an investigation into the allegations, on foot of complaints from partners in OSSL to GSOC about the same.

GSOC released its report yesterday, finding there was “no evidence of the purchase or delivery of alcohol to garda stations, nor of any misconduct of garda members, has been found as a result of the investigation”.

In it’s report, GSOC also claimed that the complainants [from OSSL] stopped cooperating with GSOC during their enquiries, saying:

“The investigation process was outlined to the complainants, including the need to retrieve documents from them, such as proofs of purchase, bank statements, vehicle hire records, company phone bills and/or any other documents which would provide evidence to substantiate their claim. It was explained that this must be done before approaches were made to any Garda members about whom they had complained. Shortly after the meeting on this subject, the company indicated by e-mail that they would no longer be cooperating with the investigation.”

Further to this, OSSL has released its own statement:

“In December 2007 we were tasked by Shell E&P Ireland to deliver alcohol to two locations in Ireland, to satisfy an arrangement they had made with Mayo and Athlone-based police officers. Adhering to the instructions given we carried out the instructions of Shell to the letter. The instruction given made clear that there should be no traceability or paper trail linking Shell to the gifting of the alcohol at both locations .

In mid 2013 we were approached by a Mayo-based police Superintendent from Swinford and asked to meet with him on the matter of the 2007 alcohol gifting. We agreed to meet him and, in a hotel in Tallaght, Dublin, we furnished him with freely given honest accounts of the details of the alcohol gifting at the centre of his enquires. He handwrote our account of the facts and asked us to sign the statements to confirm our part in Shell’s joint venture with the Mayo and Athlone police.

We were approached by GSOC and requested to attend their Dublin offices on Dec 12, 2013. We agreed and attended, and were met by a senior investigator who informed us – in the presence of one other of his colleagues – that he was in receipt of signed police statements given by us in the hotel in Tallaght.

He informed us the format and content of our statements was in their opinion (GSOC’s) “shit” and, in our presence, tore the the statements into four pieces and stated that in order to justify our claims we must write a novel of information on the matter of Shell /Garda alcohol gifting and that we must include all the players and their parts, and prove a culture extraordinary gifting on Shells part in progressing the Corrib Gas development. We declined his request in writing and offered GSOC our reasons.

A investigation finding of no proof comes as no surprise to OSSL. Why anybody would cooperate with such bizarre investigation bureau willing to destroy and discard freely and honestly give testimony is a mystery to us.

The alcohol was delivered, the recipient police officers were named, the details are exactly as stated. The GSOC announcement changes nothing.

Michael Crothers of Shell, the replacement CEO for the man at the helm at the time of the alcohol instructions, requested OSSL to accept a payment for “old stock of safety equipment” that would encompass the outstanding monies for the alcohol supplied to the police.

OSSL refused, in the presence of legal teams, for both parties Shell/OSSL in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. Crothers, acting for Shell, stated he could not ” compartmentalise ” the alcohol as an item for payment in its undisguised form. He was accompanied at the meeting by Shell’s head of legal Julia Busby who witnessed the offer.”

Previously: ‘Shell Gave €35,000 Of Alcohol To Belmullet Gardaí’

So Sue Me

Read GSOC’s report in full here

Thanks John Donovan

Pic: Pollathomais Pier in 2007 (Shell to Sea)

verrimuss

Alternatively….

The experiences of some Verrimus security staff while in Dublin from the Cooke Report into possible surveillance at at the Garda ombdisman’s office.

Via OireachtasRetort

GSOC defends decision on security ‘threats’ (RTE)

GSOC says Cooke report ‘mirrors’ its own findings (irish Times)

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Cooke Report says GSOC overstepped mark in setting up bugging investigation

– See more at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/cooke-report-says-gsoc-overstepped-mark-in-setting-up-bugging-investigation-30343615.html#sthash.ejZAEcn0.dpuf

20140606-071054-25854414.jpgOh.

The Guardian reports that: “Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile phone groups, has revealed the existence of secret wires that allow government agencies to listen to all conversations on its networks, saying they are widely used in some of the 29 countries in which it operates in Europe and beyond

Vodafone reveals existence of secret wires that allow state surveillance (Guardian)

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[GSOC chairman Simon O’Brien (left) with Kieran Fitzgerald of GSOC and on his way to attending the Public Service Oversight and Petitions Committee in February, to answer questions about the GSOC bugging story which is now the subject of an inquiry]

After the GSOC bugging story appeared in The Sunday Times on February 9, written by John Mooney, Mr O’Brien was summoned to the then Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s office on February 10, to brief him on the matter. Following that meeting, Mr O’Brien released a statement apologising for not telling Mr Shatter about the investigation that GSOC had carried out by Verrimus. Verrimus had detected three security threats.

In his statement, he said: “We did not wish to point fingers unnecessarily and we did not believe that widespread reporting would be conducive to public confidence.”

Then, on February 12, Mr O’Brien appeared before the Public Service Oversight and Petitions Committee and told the committee:

I certainly suspect or potentially suspect we may have been under some form of surveillance. I have no information in my possession that any other ombudsman’s office has ever been under this type of surveillance.

Separately, in his investigation of Sgt Maurice McCabe’s dossier of claims of Garda misconduct, Sean Guerin, SC, referred to the role of GSOC in the recent Guerin Report.

In the introduction of his report, Mr Guerin said he received no documentation from GSOC. He said on the eve of the day his report was due he received a letter from Arthur Cox Solicitors, on behalf of GSOC, stating  there were legal and practical issues with handing over, according to GSOC, “voluminous” relevant documentation.

Mr Guerin wrote:

“That has, unfortunately, been an obstacle to any assessment as part of this review of the adequacy of the investigations conducted by GSOC.”

In addition, in Chapter 18, Mr Guerin wrote:

“What is striking, however, is that in the one case in which it is clear that a GSOC investigation was pursued to a conclusion, the papers I have seen suggest that the approach adopted by GSOC was ultimately broadly similar to that of An Garda Siochana…While the independent investigative function that GSOC exercises is an important one in the public interest, it appears to be no guarantee of a disciplinary outcome.”

Further to these two matters, GSOC chairman Simon O’Brien spoke to Ivan Yates and Chris O’Donoghue on Newstalk Breakfast this morning.

Yates:  “Over recent months, part of the allegation is that that you’re part of the problem, rather than you’re part of the solution, that you’re basically not a watchdog, you’re a poodle.  Do you think the way you handled Martin Callinan – by having a cup of coffee with him – that the whole relationship was just too cosy?”

O’Brien:  “Ah gee, look, Martin and I have a professional relationship, had a professional relationship, absolutely no problem sitting down with Martin and having a cup of coffee, I did that on a number of…on a regular basis.  Just think about where we were within that – you know, there was a controversy flowing around us. Martin phoned me up and said, ‘Would you come over and we’ll have a chat about things…”  I’ve got no problem with that, I’ve got no problem with that at all.  As he has said, and as I have said in the past, there’s always been a healthy tension between the two agencies – that’s fine.  But, I have to say to you I have no problem sitting down and having a cup of coffee with Martin Callinan.”

Yates:  “How would you characterise that relationship with the Commissioner – was it too cosy, was it too submissive on your part?”Continue reading →

LuciaHusband

[Lucia and Jim O’Farrell hold a picture of their late son, Shane]

You may recall the case of Shane O’Farrell who was 23 when he died in a hit-and-run outside Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan on August 2, 2011.

Yesterday Justice Minister Alan Shatter ordered the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission [GSOC] to carry out a public interest inquiry into his death.

Shane was killed by Zigimantas Gridzuiska, 39, from Lithuania. Gridzuiska, who had 40 previous convictions in three different jurisdictions and was out on bail on the night Shane died.

On Tonight With Vincent Browne, on April 3, Shane’s mother Lucia said on July 6, 2011 – three weeks before Shane’s death – that the car in which Gridzuiska was driving on the night Shane died was pulled up by members of the Drug Squad.

She said: “[Gridzuiska] was well known to them and he was found with a substance and charred tinfoil. Apparently this man snorted his heroin. He would put a lighter under the tinfoil and he snorted his heroin and instead of confiscating or seizing the car and preventing him driving, this man was allowed continue to drive and hold a driving licence.”

She also said that members of the Drugs Squad also stopped Gridzuiska just an hour before Shane was killed.

She said: “[Gridzuiska] was pulled up again an hour before he killed our son because the number was known to the Drugs Squad. He was found with two other Lithuanian heroin addicts, the driver was uninsured, they took them out and searched them, this car had no NCT certificate, it was driven by an uninsured driver and they were waved on.”

Two days after Shane’s death, Gridzuiska was brought to Dundalk Court for a special sitting. At the time he was three months into a four-month suspended sentence over a previous conviction. It’s Mrs O’Farrell’s understanding that the gardaí never informed the judge of this or asked for the judge for his suspended sentence to be activated. Mrs O’Farrell also alleges that gardaí never objected to Gridzuiska getting bail.

On Tonight with Vincent Browne, Mrs O’Farrell also alleged: “There was gross misconduct and corruption and following it to mop up, to cover up.”

Judge Pat McCartan acquitted Gridzuiska of dangerous driving causing death. He was then given the choice of eight months in prison or to leave the country within 21 days. He left.

Previously: Failure Of Duty

The Case Of Shane O’Farrell

The Thin Blue Line Updated

Blowback

Pic: Irish Independent

ShatterRits

“The report mentioned earlier that I received from RITS gives as an opinion, based on the reports provided for RITS, that “there is no evidence of any technical or electronic surveillance against GSOC”; that is, no evidence at all, not merely no definitive evidence. The report also disputes other conclusions reached by Verrimus. I appreciate that GSOC relied on the reports it had received from the security company it had contracted. I cannot ignore the report I received from the company asked to conduct a peer review of the technical documentation furnished by GSOC to me and the information accompanying it. Having regard to the differences that have arisen, the additional information I have received since I made my first statement to the Dáil, the ongoing nature of this controversy, its debilitating impact on the capacity of GSOC to get on with its work and the continuing overhang of suspicion voiced by some, despite the conclusions of GSOC, that the Garda Síochána or a member of the Garda Síochána was engaged in misconduct, I concluded that it was important to do what was possible and reasonable to bring an end to ongoing controversy.”

Justice Minister Alan Shatter – Tuesday, February 18, 2014

“Mr Shatter has failed to give us the alternative explanations that he said he would, and the committee is disappointed and alarmed by this. What he has sent us is non-committal, and just a series of queries, and based on it we have to be alarmed as to what he said in the Dáil. We would have to find at this stage in favour of the Verimus analysis based on what the minister has sent us. As things stand, we have to conclude that — for whatever reason — the minister was talking up the analysis of Rits and was talking down the findings of Verimus without justification. Is there a narrative here? Was the minister trying to disprove the allegations, rather than examine them? That is the concern and it is a very significant matter.”

Sinn Féin TD and chairman of the Public Services Oversight Committee, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn – in today’s Irish Examiner.

Previously: Putting It On Rits

Contradictions In Terms

Dáil transcript: kildarestreet.com

‘Alarm’ at Shatter’s failure to disprove bug claim (Irish Examiner)