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On June last year I have attended a court case as a witness. I had to spend a lot of money on travelling and food because the case was in a different Country. I was asked by the Police officer that I was in contact with to collect receipts and send them to him after the case is done so he can issue a refund for my expenses.

I did as asked. Everything went fine and I sent the receipts as soon as I could. In the couple of months after the case I was occasionally chatting with the Police officer via e-mail and he was always saying that I'll get my refund and I just have to wait. Initially I was fine with that because I remember doing paid voluntary work in college and it took the college about 6 months to pay me.

Around Christmas time I was told that I'll be getting the refund in January this year for sure. Now it's almost the end of March and the money is still nowhere to be seen. I'm infuriated. When I ask the Police officer now continues to make vague promises that everything is fine and I'll get my money back but doesn't say when.

The police agency involved is Garda Síochána, Ireland.

What can I do to get my money back?

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  • 2
    Which police agency and which country?
    – Ben Miller
    Commented Mar 22, 2018 at 19:04
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    Garda Síochána, Ireland
    – Shady Programmer
    Commented Mar 22, 2018 at 19:06

1 Answer 1

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I can think of a couple of options for you.

One would be to write a letter to Acting Garda Commissioner Ó Cualáin, the head of the Garda Síochána. The address of headquarters is An Garda Síochána Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8, D08 HN3X.

Another option is to contact the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), an independent agency that addresses complaints about the Garda Síochána. You can file a complaint right from their website.

I don't know which route is more likely to get you results, but if you pick one and try it, wait a while to give them a chance to resolve it before you try the other one.

No matter which one you pick, be sure to include all the details necessary for them to investigate the matter. You don't want your complaint ignored simply because they had too many questions to figure out the situation. Good luck.

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  • Thank you very much! I have looked at both links you provided and am really happy to know I am able to do something about the situation that I'm in. I'll consider the ombudsman as my primary option. I read on their site a year must pass before making a complaint, so I'll wait for another while until that happens and see if I get my money back in the mean time. Again really happy to know I have options available! If I could I'd give you all my points from all stack-exchange accounts!
    – Shady Programmer
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 20:05
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    @ShadyProgrammer I think you need to read the part about the “one year” timing again. The way I read it, it is saying that the deadline is one year after the incident to make the complaint. So you need to make the complaint before a year passes.
    – Ben Miller
    Commented Mar 23, 2018 at 21:02
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    Got a letter back from the ombudsman this week saying that my case will be investigated, so far so good :)
    – Shady Programmer
    Commented Apr 21, 2018 at 16:43
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    @ShadyProgrammer How did things go?
    – glglgl
    Commented Sep 5, 2019 at 8:27
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    I used the ombudsman services. It wasn't too complicated of a process. In response from them I was told that I'll get my money back and that the police was just a bit late to process everything. Some time later I DID GET MY MONEY BACK :)
    – Shady Programmer
    Commented Sep 6, 2019 at 10:14

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