Garda harassment challenged
A KERRY man who has been subject to an alleged Garda
campaign of harassment has been given leave to seek a
judicial review to prevent the DPP proceeding with a
number of summonses against him.
The case has arisen after Denis Kelly from Ardfert, a
former member of the Garda Síochána himself, was served
with three summonses alleging that he broke Road
Traffic laws.
Kelly told a High Court hearing on Monday, that the
Gardaí have subjected him to a concerted campaign of
harassment since he was released from Port Laoise
prison.
Kelly had been a member of the Gardaí for nine years
until 1991, wen he was arrested and charged with having
possession of a document contrary to Section 9 of the
Official Secrets Act and with passing on information to
the IRA.
Though the latter charge was withdrawn, Kelly was held
in Port Laoise for four years.
On his release, he successfuly applied for a position
as a gym instructor at a local hotel. However, after an
approach was made to the hotel owner by Gardaí, the
post was no longer open to him.
When he got a part-time job in another hotel, the
Gardaí again approached the general manager with a view
to having him dismissed. However, in this instance the
manager monitored his work for a fortnight after which
he was deemed a satisfactory employee and allowed to
continue in the position.
Kelly told the court that he is aware that the Special
Branch encourage uniformed Gardaí to keep under
surveillance and report on the movements of those who
they consider to be republican sympathisers and
activists.
Now employed as an insurance agent, he claimed that he
had been followed and put under surveillance while he
was going about his business, which involved a lot
travelling.
He said that his elderly parents were also harassed,
that he has been stopped and searched in his car on
numerous occasions and that his property has been
unlawfully seized.
He further alleged that he had been verbally abused and
accused of being involved in the killing of Garda Jerry
McCabe, which he emphatically denied.
Kelly said that road summonses wrongly accused him of
violating Road Traffic laws and that he can prove they
are indeed illegal. He accused the Gardaí, having
failed to have him sacked, of using the Road Traffic
Acts to have him disqualified from driving.
Judge Catherine McGuinness granted Mr Kelly a judicial
review, preventing the DPP proceeding with the traffic
offence summonses.
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