Man sent for trial accused of interfering with justice and obtaining personal info from garda
A Wicklow man has been sent forward for trial accused of obtaining people’s personal information from a garda and interfering with a prosecution.Billy Duffy, 55, of Meadow Vale, Arklow, is charged with perverting the course of justice and obtaining details on individuals from a garda and disclosing them to others.He faces nine counts under section 145 of the Data Protection Act of getting personal information on other people from Garda David McHugh and disclosing it to others on various dates from 2019 to 2022. Read moreFormer bodybuilder jailed for producing a hammer during theft of man’s jacketHis tenth charge, contrary to common law, is for perverting the course of justice by requesting another Garda to interfere with a court prosecution between October 25 and December 13, 2018.He appeared before Judge Treasa Kelly at Dublin District Court, where Garda Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Sergeant Garda Kieran Kilcoyne served a book of evidence on him.Top 5 stories from last week The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the accused face trial on indictment.Accordingly, Judge Kelly granted a return-for-trial order, sending Mr Duffy forward on bail to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where the case will be listed for mention on May 21 next.The accused has yet to enter a plea and was warned to alert the prosecution within 14 days if he intends to use an alibi in his defence. Legal aid was granted along with an order for the Anti-Corruption Unit to provide the defence with copies of the interview videos.Earlier, Garda McHugh, 37, whose address cannot be reported due to a court order, was sent forward for trial to the same venue. He was charged with 11 offences.Read moreBrazilian escort accused of €700k earnings from Dublin brothels sent for trialIt is alleged that on November 8, 2018, and December 2, 2021, he disclosed confidential information to a co-accused from the Garda Pulse computer system relating to the investigation into the sudden death of a named female, which occurred in Bray, Co Wicklow. It is alleged that he obtained it in the course of his duties, knowing that disclosing the information was likely to have a harmful effect.He was also charged with deliberately interfering with a garda investigation and providing false details to the investigating officer, perverting the prosecution of a male accused of a road traffic offence, between November 29, 2018, and January 3, 2019.Eight data protection charges allege he obtained personal data relating to another without authorisation and passed it to another person.
