Former garda admits coercion and harassment of a woman

Niamh O’Donoghue

A former garda has pleaded guilty to charges of coercion and harassment of a woman at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The man who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was due to stand trial last November but on Friday, Keith Spencer BL, defending, told the court progress had been made.

Appearing in court wearing a black puffer jacket and dark trousers, the accused man was arraigned before Judge Patricia Ryan.

When the court registrar arraigned him on one count of coercion in January 2016 and one count of harassment on dates between March 2016 and November 2017, he replied “guilty”.

Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, asked Judge Ryan to order a victim impact statement and Spencer asked the court for a probation report for the sentencing date in May.