A garda who was suspended over four years ago, because he entered into a sexual relationship with a woman "within weeks" of her making a complaint of domestic abuse assault to him, has failed in a High Court challenge to his suspension.
Keith Harrison, who is stationed in Donegal, was suspended in March 2021 for an alleged breach of discipline, in that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with "a person alleged to be a vulnerable victim of crime" and that there was "a power dynamic" between them.
Mr Harrison had claimed that because the woman did not subsequently pursue a criminal complaint, she cannot properly be described as a "vulnerable victim of a crime".
The High Court rejected this, stating there were many reasons why a criminal prosecution might not be pursued, and it could not "automatically be inferred that the person making the complaint was not vulnerable".
Mr Harrison also claimed that his continued suspension was "unfair, unjustified and amounts to a form of sanction or penalisation".
However the court was satisfied that each of the three-monthly decisions to renew his suspension were "reasonable" and "rational", having regard to the seriousness of the allegations.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons said the alleged breaches of discipline were very serious, touching as they do upon the interaction between gardaí and the victims of alleged domestic abuse.
"Garda Harrison knows precisely what is being alleged against him," the judge said.
"He has been served with particulars of the serious breaches of discipline alleged and has been served with a number of statements recording the events alleged to constitute the breaches," the judge added.
The judge also said that while Mr Harrison has been suspended "for a significant period of time", "but for the intervention of these judicial review proceedings, the disciplinary process would likely have already concluded".
The High Court ruled that Garda Harrison’s continued suspension "is lawful" and that it was "reasonable and rational" to extend it every three months "having regard to the seriousness of the breaches of discipline alleged, and the apparent strength of the evidence underlying those allegations".
Garda Harrison has previously accused senior garda officers of targeting him and interfering with his home and family life due to malice against him, allegations which were totally dismissed seven-and-a-half years ago at the Disclosures Tribunal.
Mr Justice Peter Charlton found in December 2107 that "all of the allegations of Garda Keith Harrison and Marisa Simms [his then partner] examined by the tribunal are entirely without any validity".
The Tribunal also refused the couple most of their costs, describing their various allegations as "nonsense", "ridiculous" and "false".
