Military liaison officers will no longer have to wear their uniforms in civilian court in the wake of public outcry over the Cathal Crotty case earlier this year.
The role of officers will also now be confined to simply reporting back the results of the case to Defence Forces authorities rather than giving evidence about an accused’s service record. The move has been welcomed by the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers (Raco).
Under the current system, the Defence Forces assigns officers to attend court if an enlisted member appears on criminal charges. While there they are often required to give details of the accused’s military record.
This caused significant controversy last June following the conviction of Pte Cathal Crotty for a violent and unprovoked street attack on a woman in Limerick in 2022.
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He violently attacked Natasha O’Brien (24) on the street after she asked him to stop shouting homophobic abuse at passersby, a court heard. He later boasted about the attack on social media, posting “Two to put her down, two to put her out,” in reference to striking Ms O’Brien four times.
During the sentencing hearing, the Defence Forces Liaison Officer Comdt Paul Togher told the court Crotty (22) was an “exemplary”, “courteous”, “professional” and “disciplined” soldier.
In the ensuing controversy, this was interpreted in some circles as an endorsement of Crotty by Cmdt Togher and the Defence Forces. In fact, the officer was reading from Crotty’s service record as requested and phrases such as “exemplary” and “professional” are standard categories in such reports.
After the case, which resulted in Crotty receiving a suspended sentence, the Government commissioned a report to examine the Defence Forces’ handling of cases involving soldiers before the civilian courts.
The resulting report, which was published earlier in December, contained 35 recommendations including that regulations should be introduced to suspend soldiers facing criminal charges instead of putting them on leave.
The report from senior counsel also contains several recommendations relating to the role of liaison officers. Mr Ward said liaison officers play an important role in relaying important information back to the Defence Forces but that their presence in court in uniform could lead to the perception that they are there “in a supportive role”.
“It seems clear that the role of the Liaison Officer in providing evidence of character and service to the presiding judge in a criminal trial is questionable in the modern context and should be reconsidered,” he wrote.
Other recommendations include introducing a “rapid response protocol” within the Defence Forces to respond to soldiers accused of serious offences in the civilian courts and better information sharing between the Garda, Courts Service and military.
Minister for Defence Micheál Martin has accepted all the report’s recommendations.
Raco general secretary Lieut Col Conor King welcomed the recommendations and said it agreed that it is “questionable” for liaison officers to have to give evidence of a soldier’s character in court.
The officer’s role should extend only to reporting back on the court case to the unit’s commanding officer, he said. Lieut Col King also welcomed provisions to legislatively underpin the suspension process for soldiers charged with a crime.
Mr Martin has said legislation will be needed to implement many of the recommendations.
Meanwhile, an appeal lodged by the Director of Public Prosecutions against the leniency of the suspended sentence imposed on Crotty will be heard on January 23rd. Crotty has since been discharged from the Defence Forces.
