A jury at the trial of a retired garda superintendent and four gardaí accused of intervening in potential or pending road traffic prosecutions have been shown copies of court summonses that were struck out or withdrawn in district courts in Limerick.
The summonses related to speeding, the use of mobile phones while driving, the non-wearing of seat belts and driving without insurance.
Head of the Limerick Court Office Siobhán O'Connor explained to the jury the shorthand notes that were written by judges on the summonses.
She told the court that 'S/O’ meant the summons was struck out, and ‘ST’ meant the application was made by a prosecuting sergeant acting on behalf of the state.
The court heard ‘WD’ was shorthand for withdrawn.
A total of 20 court summonses which had been struck out or withdrawn were shown to the jury.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister, Felix McEnroy SC, Ms O’Connor agreed that district court judges make a wide number of orders, including withdrawing and striking out summonses or dismissing a case.
"There is only one decision maker in the district court and that is the judge," Mr McEnroy said, to which Ms O’Connor agreed.
The witness was asked if she was aware if any of the judges who made the decisions in these cases were made aware of any matter after the decision was made. "No, I’m not aware," she said.
The court official agreed that there was nothing unusual about a summons being struck out, if, for example, a motorist did not have a driving licence on them when stopped by the gardaí but subsequently produced the licence at a garda station.
Ms O’Connor agreed that it was not unusual for that to happen.
Former Garda Superintendent Eamon O'Neill, Sergeant Anne Marie Hassett, Sergeant Michelle Leahy, Garda Colm Geary and Garda Tom McGlinchy 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 charges against them follow an investigation by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
