Gardaí to face trial for of burglary and perverting the course of justice

By Jessica Magee

 A trial date has been set at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for three gardaí accused of burglary and perverting the course of justice.

One of the three men also faces a charge of false imprisonment of a woman.

Robert Gorman (43), with an address in north Dublin, is charged with burglary of a basement flat on Mountjoy Square North in the city centre on September 7, 2021.

He is also accused of perverting the course of public justice between September 30 and December 30, 2021 by allegedly signing information for a search warrant on that flat in Mountjoy Square.

Mr Gorman faces a second count of perverting the course of justice by allegedly creating three incidents on the Garda Pulse computer system on September 21, 2021.

Ciaran Whelan (51) with an address in Co Tipperary is also charged with burglary of the basement flat at Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1, on September 7, 2021.

Mr Whelan is further charged with burglary of a flat on Kenilworth Road, Dublin 6, on June 19, 2021 and with three counts of perverting the course of justice on dates between August 25 and September 27, 2021.

The charges of perverting the course of justice include allegations that Mr Whelan made a false report to a superintendent regarding a search of the flat at Kenilworth Road, and amended data on the Garda Pulse system.

Mr Whelan is also charged with false imprisonment of a woman on September 7, 2021 at Saint John’s Road West in Dublin 8.

Mark Duffy (39) with an address in Dublin 15, faces one count of burglary at a property on Kenilworth Road on June 19, 2021 and a second count of perverting the course of justice on a date between August 28 and December 20, 2021.

At a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan set a trial date of February 23, 2026 in relation to the three men.