The police ombudsman Fiosrú has acknowledged that the investigation into a complaint made in 2017 against former garda Paul Moody, who has been convicted in connection with coercive behaviour towards two women, faced delays.After the delay in investigating the complaint made by one former partner, Moody subsequently went on to harass another woman with whom he was in a relationship. Moody, formerly of St Raphael’s Manor, Celbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to harassment and coercive control of his then partner, and mother of his child, between March 2016 and November 2017. On Tuesday, he was given a six-year sentence with the final 15 months suspended on strict conditions for the offences.He committed those offences before his attacks on Nicola Hanney. He was jailed in 2022 for three years and three months after pleading guilty to a charge of coercion. The court heard then that he engaged in a four-year campaign of harassment, threats, assaults and coercive control of Hanney, whom he was in relationship with after the previous woman.“If someone had listened in 2017, Nicola would have been spared,” the woman said, in a statement read to the court at the sentencing hearing on Tuesday.In a statement relating to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigation into a complaint about Moody, Fiosrú; “It is accepted that the investigation faced delays and it was discontinued in March 2023”.It is understood the Covid-19 pandemic is seen as a factor playing into these delays.[ Ex-garda Paul Moody given further sentence for ‘prolonged’ coercive control of second womanOpens in new window ]Sarah Benson, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that it was very hard to understand how a report first made in 2017 was stalled when Covid happened and finally concluded in 2023.“I can’t speak to what happened but clearly that level of delay is something that raises questions. I am aware of a lot of the work that Fiosrú have been undertaking as part of its new enhanced functions and the establishment of a specialist unit to be dealing with cases such as this.“We can’t turn the clock back on this case, but we can look to deeds not words I suppose in terms of all current and future investigations of this nature and hope that victims are not left waiting.”She said coercive control is “a persistent and relentless pattern of behaviour”. “It’s not as though the situation was not without risk of continued and ongoing harm whilst this investigation might have been under way.”Benson welcomed a recent commitment from the Garda Commissioner to tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, but there was still room for “more transparency” to encourage those who will hesitate to pick up the phone to contact the gardaí because they feared their abuser might try to stop them or to interfere with the system. “That’s where institutions like Fiosrú are critical to allow a mechanism for independent investigation where a victim or survivors can reach out without fear but also with confidence that their complaints will be dealt with in a timely manner which is what we really hope will happen going forward.”The ombudsman said it began an internal review in order to “gain learnings” from how it “conducted its investigation and engaged with the victim”.The ombudsman did not detail any of these “learnings” or publish any results from the review.It also commissioned an external review of its protocols and practices, leading to the ombudsman establishing a dedicated specialist unit dealing allegations of domestic abuse, gender and sexual violence and offences against children.“The unit also investigates public complaints where it is alleged that a garda failed to properly investigate incidents of this nature,” it told The Irish Times on Wednesday.A spokesperson for Fiosrú said it is “committed to hearing the lived experiences of victims/survivors” and “takes seriously concerns raised by public complainants”.