IRELAND
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A detective denied in interview that she forged a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to cover up the fact that she had failed to complete a clerical sex abuse investigation.
Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (aged 48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.
The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14, 2009, directing that there be no prosecution in a clerical abuse case.
The letter read: “Dear Sir, I [illegible] to yours. In [illegible] the statement of the complainant…could not possibly form the basis of a prosecution given that the complainant’s allegation of rape is only conjecture.”
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