Jury in Limerick garda trial could not return a verdict after two hours
The trial of one retired superintendent and four serving gardaí has been in Limerick Circuit Court for eight weeks
THE JURY in the Limerick garda trial have not returned a verdict after just over two hours of deliberation.
The jury rose to deliberate just after 2pm today, Friday, and returned after two hours and six minutes.
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They handed a note to Judge Roderick Maguire saying that they could not reach a verdict and that they would return to deliberate at 9.30am on Monday morning.
Today, Friday, there were so many people in the courtroom, with many standing at the back, that courtroom 1 was opened for additional capacity, where people could view proceedings from.
Family members, close friends, retired gardaí, as well as members of the Garda Síochána Retired Members’ Association and the Garda Representative Association were out in force in Limerick Circuit Court.
Just before the jury returned, the judge asked anyone standing to move into courtroom 1 for health and safety reasons.
Retired superintendent Eamon O’Neill, Garda Colm Geary, Garda Tom McGlinchey, Sergeant Michelle Leahy and Sergeant Anne-Marie Hassett were all on trial for eight weeks in Limerick Circuit Court.
Each of them pleaded not guilty to a total of 39 charges, which all relate to attempting or having a tendency to pervert the course of justice over Fixed Charge Penalty Notices relating to road traffic offences.
They include the squaring away of penalties for offences including speeding, holding a mobile phone while driving, having no insurance and not wearing a seatbelt.
Throughout the trial, the jury of eight men and four women heard evidence from high-ranking and retired officers of An Garda Síochána.
A number of motorists who were alleged to have committed the road traffic offences were referenced throughout the trial, including Limerick hurlers, the wife of a Limerick hurler, other GAA players and a politician.
Before the jury retired to deliberate on their verdict at 2.03pm, Judge Roderick Maguire delivered his charge.
He told the jurors that they bring their “common sense and life experience” to their decision-making process.
Judge Maguire told the jury that they must decide what weight is to be given to each piece of evidence and that they must be satisfied “beyond reasonable doubt.”
He stressed that each element of each piece of evidence must be examined.
Judge Maguire explained that because there are 39 charges, this trial is essentially 39 trials playing out all at once.
He told the jury that it is “important that each of you participates in the discussion” and that all voices must be heard before a verdict is reached.