Garda Superintendent David Taylor was suspended days after a Disclosure Tribunal investigation found a ‘campaign of calumny’ against whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
The former head of the Garda press office was discovered to have worked ‘cheek by jowl’ with former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to defame McCabe.
Garda Superintendent David Taylor has been suspended from the service, according to reports.
The move comes just a few days after a judge ruled that the former head of the Garda press office had slandered whistleblower Maurice McCabe in a “campaign of calumny” with former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.
Mr Taylor was informed of the suspension on Saturday, and it was taken out due to a loss of public confidence in him as a garda.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed today that a Garda officer had been suspended, but refused to identify the individual.
Their statement read: “A Garda officer has been suspended from duty and as this is an employment matter, we will not be commenting further.”
According Irish reports, Supt Taylor has sought for retirement from An Garda Siochana ahead of the disciplinary process.
He has served the whole 30 years required, but the choice to accept it has yet to be made.
In his third interim report from the Disclosures Tribunal, Justice Peter Charleton declared this week that “the truth is that Superintendent David Taylor completely understated his own involvement in a campaign of calumny against Maurice McCabe”.
The court said, “He claimed, for the first time, while giving evidence to the tribunal, that he was acting under orders.” This was not the case.
“The tribunal is convinced that he pursued a scheme that arose from his close working relationship with Commissioner Callinan.”
“Their plan was that there was to be much nodding and winking and references to a historic claim of sexual abuse while, at the same time, saying that the Director of Public Prosecutions had ruled that even if the central allegation did not have credibility issues, what was described did not amount to an offence of sexual assault or even an assault.”
