Garda who abandoned squad car at airport while on holiday has house raided in corruption probe

The mid-ranking officer had his home raided by officers attached to the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) at 6.30am on Friday morning.

Acting on a search warrant, specialist officers arrived at his home and searched it. It is understood that the garda’s mobile phone was seized.

An internal disciplinary investigation into the matter was completed several months ago — and the officer at the centre of the controversy was given a “slap on the wrist” by his superiors in Waterford.

However, following a series of revelations about the incident in this newspaper in July, it is understood that the Anti-Corruption Unit decided to launch its own investigation into the matter. This culminated in the dawn raid and search of the garda’s house on Friday morning.

The Sunday Independent previously revealed that a group of gardaí based in Waterford travelled to Dublin Airport in the vehicle while they flew out for a non-work trip.

When contacted this weekend, Garda Headquarters declined to comment on the matter, saying it does not comment on an internal disciplinary investigations.

The bizarre incident left airport police “scratching their heads” and sparked two separate investigations in its immediate aftermath.

The unmarked car, which is attached to a specialist unit in the Waterford garda division, was driven by the officer in the company of other members to Dublin Airport.

It was then left in the vicinity of the airport while the gardaí flew out on holiday.

The garda who drove the squad car was put back on uniform duties following an internal probe.