Text messages between Limerick hurler Seán Finn and a garda superintendent about an alleged speeding offence have been shown to a jury in the trial of the superintendent, Eamon O'Neill, and four gardaí who are charged with perverting the course of justice by intervening in road traffic prosecutions.
A text message sent from four-time All-Star hurler Mr Finn's phone to Superintendent O'Neill, who is retired, said: "Just got pulled in outside secondary school in Bruff for speed.
"Anything can be done or am I snookered kid?"
In text messages over and back between the pair, which were shown to the court, Supt O’Neill asked the hurler for a description of the garda who had stopped him and if he had the garda’s "shoulder number".
A thread of text messages between two of the defendants, Supt O’Neill and Garda Tom McGlinchey, were also shown to the jury.
The message from Mr Finn to Supt O’Neill was forwarded to Mr McGlinchey, who the court heard then replied: "Who’s that from?"
Superintendent O’Neill replied "Seán Finn", to which Garda McGlinchey responded "stopped by a guard? Hardly Bruff gardaí? I will check".
A video recording of an interview conducted by detectives from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation with Garda McGlinchey at Mayorstone Garda Station on 7 October 2019 was shown to the jury.
Garda McGlinchey told the detectives that he had received a phone call from Supt O’Neill while he was attending a football match.
"He asked me did I know who was working in the Bruff area on that night, that someone had been stopped for speeding," he told detectives.
"He gave me the name Seán Finn, who I know to be a Limerick hurler and he asked me to make a request on his behalf," he added.
The court heard Garda McGlinchey contacted Bruff Garda Station. He spoke to a garda from the traffic unit and made the request "on behalf of Supt O’Neill".
The court heard that Mr Finn ultimately paid a speeding fine in respect of the summons.
The court was also told about text messages sent by Supt O’Neill to Garda McGlinchey about potential road traffic offences on a number of dates in 2019.
Garda McGlinchey told the detectives he did not know the people connected to these matters.
During the course of the interview, Garda McGlinchey told detectives that he had known Supt O'Neill for a number of years and they had been involved in football teams together.
Garda McGlinchey was described in court as "a very straight person" and "a good old fashioned garda in a rural area" by Superintendent John Ryan who worked with Garda McGlinchey in Bruff, Co Limerick in 2019, and is now based in Clare.
In his evidence to the jury, Supt Ryan said Garda McGlinchey had been "a huge loss" when he was suspended from the force to deal with these charges.
He also described Garda Colm Geary, who is also a defendant in the case, as "a very solid, very skilled member", who was "hugely respected" by colleagues and the community where he was based in Ennis.
Former garda superintendent O'Neill, Garda McGlinchey, Garda Geary, Sergeant Anne Marie Hassett and Sergeant Michelle Leahy have pleaded not guilty to a total of 39 offences of engaging in conduct tending and intended to pervert the course of justice contrary to common law on dates between October 2016 and September 2019.
The trial continues before Judge Roderick Maguire at Limerick Circuit Court.
