May Day assault case struck out by court

A GARDA accused of assaulting a member of the public during last year’s May Day protests in Dublin has had his case struck out by the Dublin District Court.

Judge Cormac Dunne ruled yesterday there was inconclusive evidence to convict Garda Keith Goff of hitting student Brian Hayden on the arm during the Reclaim the Streets protest in Dublin on May 6, 2002.

He dismissed the charge against Gda Goff on the basis that there was “gross uncertainty” in Mr Hayden’s evidence that he had been struck by the accused.

However, Judge Dunne said he had no doubt Mr Hayden had been assaulted on at least three occasions by members of the gardaí.

He noted the May Day protest had begun in a festive and party atmosphere but scuffles and episodes of violence had developed at a later stage. The judge said Mr Hayden had been struck on the neck in the area of his Adam’s apple when he had correctly sought to intervene in the situation.

The packed courtroom, which included over 20 uniformed gardaí plus several plain-clothed detectives, heard Judge Dunne describe the 27-year-old former student as a “very forthcoming” witness.

However, the judge said Mr Hayden, in oral evidence, had corrected his earlier written statement which claimed that Gda Goff has assaulted him on both the neck and arm.

Mr Hayden acknowledged during evidence on Tuesday he was mistaken in initially identifying Gda Goff as the garda who had assaulted him in the neck.

He also accepted that video evidence showed no contact between the accused’s baton and himself.

The judge said a second statement which Mr Hayden made earlier this month also showed there was still some confusion in his mind about the alleged assault on his arm. He believed such confusion was understandable as Mr Hayden, by his own admission, had described the scene in Dame Street as one of “madness and mayhem.”

“The court finds his evidence unreliable, not in the character sense but in the legal sense,” said Judge Dunne, acceding to an application by Gda Goff's lawyers that the case be dismissed.

In a written statement which was read out earlier, Gda Goff admitted using his baton on two or three occasions on Dame Street to restrain protesters. He described many of the participants in the May Day rally as “aggressive and totally uncooperative.”

After the hearing, both Gda Goff and Mr Hayden refused to comment.

However, a spokesperson for Reclaim the Streets expressed disappointment that a garda who had acted in a violent manner against peaceful protestors had not been punished under the law.

Six other gardaí are still due before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court later this autumn to face similar charges of assault on protesters during the same event.