Thursday 22 January 2009

Who are the worst: the gardai or the skangers?


Ah yes, it’s great knowing we can sleep soundly in our beds with the boys and girls of the Garda Síochána out there looking after us. Unless they’re buzzing around 50 metres above our houses in their helicopter, for no apparent reason, of course.

They really are a top-class police force, of which we should be giddily proud. Never mind those wishy-washy liberals and anarchist malcontents, alike, having a pop at them - undermining their tireless efforts to protect us from the baddies!

Rabble-rousing anarchists such as Justice Morris, for instance. He claimed to have discovered a culture of “endemic corruption” while investigating gardai in Donegal. But can attempting to frame innocent citizens for murder, planting explosives so as to “discover” them as arms caches, making false arrests, beating people in custody, extracting false confessions, perverting the course of justice and committing perjury really be considered corrupt? Surely not!

The current issue of Dublin 15’s Community Voice reports another novel take on the concept of law-keeping by the rozzers, when they nicked a man whose car had just been nicked.

Apparently Gary Pierce was at a party in Castlecurragh, near Mulhuddart, when he looked out to discover a blank space where his car should have been. While walking around the local environs in an attempt to find the missing vehicle - presumably with a few pints on board - Gary’s apparent lack of faith in the Gardai to do the job was confirmed when he was arrested after “stepping out in front” of a stray squad car.

The luckless reveler ended up in court, was fined €50, and told by the judge to “curb his drinking problem”.

It is not known if the police managed to recover his car, and arrest those who stole it.

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8 comments:

Bernd said...

Ah, I might add an Oldie-but-Goldie here ... living in Dunboyne a few years ago I discovered my car gone. A few glass shards were all that was left, strongly pointing towards a theft.

So, I legged it to the local Garda station, reporting my car stolen. Now the sergeant there was clearly taken aback by having his Saturday morning routine (roll, tea, tabloid) interrupted and asked me whether I was sure. I told him I was, as the car was gone. He promised to look into it and come by later.

Got a phone call half an hour later, informing me that my car had not been stolen. Aha! The local gardai had stopped some youths who had broken the window to gain access and were trying to get away. This was somehow hindered by the technical expert of the group sitting in the passenger seat and wondering where the steering wheel was. It was a left-hand-drive, he was drunk, he got nicked while his mates stumbled away in time.

I informed Sergeant Brightspark that this was all very well, still the car was gone.

Oh ... silence. He promised to look into it and come by later.

Got a phone call half an hour later, informing me that my car had not been stolen. No, it had been secured by the gardai and towed away to safety.

I asked Sergeant Fullnews where it had been towed to then.

He promised to look into it and come by later.

Got a phone call half an hour later, informing me that my car had been towed to a local garage, but as the folks on nightshift were sleeping right now, nobody knew where actually the car had been towed to.

Which led me to exclaiming, "You lost my car?" He assured me that they had not lost it, they just didn't know where it was. I asked him to interrupt the beauty sleep of the nightshift then.

He promised to look into it and come by later.

He never came ... a few hours later I got a phonecall from a local garage that he had a left-hand drive in storage, would this be my car? Apparently the gurads had been phoning all local garages to enquire whether anybody had towed away ...

By the way ... the little scumbag that smashed the window could not be held accountable as he was too young. Naturally his name could not be released either. I had to pay for towing costs and repairs ...

The Gombeen Man said...

Sorry, Bernd, I can't help laughing here due to your excellent delivery of this (actually very sad) story. It really is incredible.

But, hey, at least you weren't arrested!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Lenin's not so tongue-in-cheek definition of a police state was one wheer the police are paid mor than the teachers!
Gary

The Gombeen Man said...

Hi Gary. Well, I'm generally opposed to pay cuts, but in the case of the above two groups, I'll make an exception!!!

Anonymous said...

From bitter experience my advice to anyone in this position would be whatever the **** you do DO NOT agree to the Garda-selected garage doing any "repair work" on your car. Get it the hell out of there (even if it has to be towed again) and taken to a PROPER garage.

If you let the Coppers garage do any repair work you are basically agreeing to being robbed twice plus youll end up having eventually to take the damn thing to a real garage to be repaired again properly.

The Gombeen Man said...

My sympathies, mate.

Anonymous said...

I have no faith in the Gardai to do there job when I was arrested for walking home drunk. They took me 2 a dark place were a woman hit me in the ribs while the other garda watched plus my head was sore must of knocked me out case when i came 2 i was in another car wit a diff garda they cud of done anything 2 me, the first 2 robbed my phone and 50euro. They then brought me 2 the sgt who mocked me and dropped me off at the wrong place even though i told him i dont live there he said well they want u here ur going. Was kept in that house not allowed out phoned the garda but no one wud come 2 help me.No if i ever needed help id never call the garda which r ment 2 be there 2 protect u not hammer u just case they wear a badge they can do wat ever they want its sick. i never really leave my house now i cry alot and get panic attacks. i so scared 2 complain case they make my life hell cause theyll get away wit it, its a shame you cant depend on the people who r there 2 protect and serve u not serve u brused ribs and a lumpy head out of pocket and no communication. im so low and scared i feel like cutting my writs and ending my life which i prob will they ruined me...........

The Gombeen Man said...

Hi Anon.

I'm very sorry to hear of your treatment at the hands of scumbags. And scumbag is a scumbag,whether they are in a uniform or not.

First off - don't let the f***kers get away with what they did to you. They are in the wrong here, not you. All you did is have one or two too many... and how many of us have not done that? Jesus, I know I have.

Walking home drunk should not be an excuse for the coppers to harrass or physically attack you.

I suggest you contact the following and report the incident. Did you get any of their numbers, or could you recognise them if you saw them again? Do you know what station they were based in?

Contact:
Garda Ombudsman (these deal with complaints against the coppers). They are independent.
http://www.gardaombudsman.ie/gsoc-garda-ombudsman-complaints.htm

Also, you can email Citizens Advice, and they will phone you back. They might be able to advise you on legal comeback:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories

You can always email me on gombeenman@lookout.ie if you've any questions.

Don't let them away with it.

Gombeen Man.