A garda has won a High Court challenge over a refusal to backdate his promotion after he was the subject of false accusations over the shooting of a dog during an attempt to set the animal on him.
The action was taken by Inspector Tom Quinn, who is stationed in Mullingar, against the Garda Commissioner which arose after his 2019 promotion to the rank of inspector was held up for seven months while the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigated what were held to be false and baseless allegations against him.
He was fully vindicated by GSOC after it probed a shooting incident that occurred in December 2018.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Charles Meenan ruled the Commissioner was wrong to refuse to backdate Insp Quinn's promotion.
The court said that given GSOC's findings not backdating the promotion would "wrongly penalise" the inspector over what amounted to false accusations against him.
When the matter was before the High Court on Monday, Mr Justice Meenan said he was making orders in favour of the inspector including one quashing the refusal to backdate the promotion and directed that the inspector's legal costs be paid by the Commissioner.
Insp Quinn was due to attain the rank of inspector in January 2019. Due to the investigation, his promotion was held up until late August 2019 after GSOC's probe had concluded.
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