Courts / Ireland / Report

McCabe accepts inclusion of false allegation was not deliberate, tribunal told

Summary

In a 2018 Disclosures tribunal hearing, Sergeant Maurice McCabe's lawyer, Michael McDowell SC, admitted that a false rape allegation was mistakenly included in a 2013 HSE (Tusla) report. McDowell said the error was a "cut and paste" mistake, not deliberate or ill‑willful. The tribunal had previously examined the creation and use of a Tusla file that contained false allegations against McCabe, which was sent to Gardaí in 2013. McDowell argued that the file should have been reviewed before distribution and that the failure to do so caused significant harm to McCabe's family. He questioned the random selection of McCabe's file in April 2014 and the lack of corrective action when new information emerged. The tribunal was adjourned until the following month.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: McCabe accepts inclusion of false allegation was not deliberate, tribunal told. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• April 2014 Incident
• 13 April 2014 Other
• January 2016 Other
• 2018-02-13 Publication

Why: He said it was strange that journalist Paul Williams, the author of the articles, thought he didn't have to check the allegations with Sgt McCabe because the sergeant was not named. CNI source report

Topics

Sexual Offences Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report