‘All those years wasted’: Gardaí investigating George Gibney were given Orla Poole’s name 28 years ago

A woman who said she was sexually abused as a child by George Gibney gave investigating gardaí in 1998 the name of a classmate she suspected was also abused by the former swimming coach, but they never contacted her.The first woman was Carolyn Brown, whose complaints against Gibney did not result in a prosecution against him.The second was Orla Poole, whose complaint against him in recent years, and court testimony that he attempted to rape her when she was 12 years old, led to the former national and Olympics coach being jailed for more than 15 years on Monday.Gibney was found guilty in the Central Criminal Court of 39 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape of children for the sexual abuse of four girls in the 1970s and 1980s.READ MOREBrown attended court to see Gibney being sentenced and recognised Poole sitting in front of her.Brown’s complaint against Gibney, while investigated by gardaí, did not result in a prosecution against the former coach. Poole was one of the four complainants in the most recent investigation that resulted in his conviction, though the judge referred to them only by the initials of their maiden names.“Oh, god, I was in the pool with her,” Brown said when she recognised Poole in court. The women started first year together at Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock, Dublin, in the mid-1970s but had not met since they both left the school before the Leaving Certificate.[ For survivors, failed George Gibney investigations were ‘nearly worse than the abuse’Opens in new window ]Poole, now living in the US, made a statement to gardaí after listening to the 2020 BBC podcast Where is George Gibney?, produced by Second Captains. Afterwards, outside the courtroom, Brown told Poole she had named her in 1998 to gardaí as a possible victim of Gibney.“I’m astounded Carolyn gave the guards my name 28 years ago,” said Poole, whom Gibney began abusing when she was eight. “All those years wasted. How many years of undue freedom did he get?”Poole said she only contacted the Garda after an online algorithm suggested the podcast might be of interest to her.“It wouldn’t have been hard for them to find me. My mother [Fiona Poole] has lived in the same house in Leopardstown since 1969. She was not a hard woman to find. She was well known, a former president of the INTO. Her brother was a guard,” said Poole.[ This is how it ended for George Gibney: a packed court celebrating his demiseOpens in new window ]The Irish Times submitted a request for comment to the Garda received no response before publication.Brown said gardaí investigating Gibney’s abuse of her from the ages of 13 to 15 asked her if there was anyone else who could give evidence about Gibney. She said she gave them “a few names, including Orla’s”, but the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) instructed that no charges be brought against Gibney for what he did to her. He was living in Florida at the time.Brown was not contacted for a fresh statement when the latest Garda investigation began on foot of the podcast by Mark Horgan and Ciarán Cassidy.A second man, associated with Gibney, was subsequently put on trial for abusing Brown separately in the same period. That was declared a mistrial after she inadvertently named another victim under pressure of cross-examination.“Orla and I were in the pool together. We were in classes together,” Brown said.“What bothers me is that she came forward such a long time after me. Nobody told me there was another investigation. I was told nothing.”Brown left school at 15 and never returned to formal education.“I was shocked when a guard rang and told me the DPP said Gibney was not to be charged. I had gone with them to Newpark, shown them the sauna and his office. He used to lock me in there. I couldn’t understand, after everything I’d told them, how he could go free.”She said she was not contacted either when a new investigation into Gibney was established in 2015 by the Garda Commissioner in response to questions raised in the Dáil by then Independent TD Maureen O’Sullivan.[ ‘A lot of people didn’t believe us’: George Gibney victim sees justice done after first prosecution collapsedOpens in new window ]The first of five successive investigations into Gibney’s crimes against children began 34 years ago, in 1992, when former swimmer Chalkie White made a statement at Blackrock Garda station.Outside the courthouse after Gibney (78) was taken away in a prison van on Monday, Poole waived her right to anonymity and addressed the media.“This court didn’t just deliver justice for me but, also I hope, for others,” she said. “It has shown that even after 50-plus years, justice can be got.”