Gardaí in alleged assaults on sisters not to be punished

TWO gardaí who allegedly assaulted two young women in Grafton Street, Dublin, five years ago, will not face disciplinary action.

Gráinne and Ciara Walsh received an apology and damages after claiming they were subjected to a vicious and unprovoked attack by the gardaí in April 1998.

Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne conducted an inquiry into the incident and the handling of the case and decided against disciplining the members of the force involved, Justice Minister of State Brian Lenihan said yesterday.

“While he does not propose to initiate disciplinary proceedings, particularly taking into account the lapse of time and the retirement of certain garda personnel, his report accepts that the subsequent handling of this incident by members of the Garda Síochána left a lot to be desired. It is, of course, a matter for the commissioner to initiate such proceedings. The minister does not have the discretion to do so,” he said.

But Labour justice spokesman Joe Costello said the gardaí behaved in a criminal fashion and Justice Minister Michael McDowell needed to tell Commissioner Byrne to take action. The two young women were treated in a wholly unwarranted fashion by gardaí, he said.

Saying that about €1 million is spent each year on cases of this nature, which are generally settled out of court, he asked if the minister would agree to establish an ombudsman to deal with such allegations.

The Walsh sisters, both dress designers from Castleknock, Dublin, sued the Garda Commissioner and the State over the incident and received undisclosed damages in an out-of-court settlement last July. In an apology, the gardaí said they regretted what had happened and acknowledged the sisters were of unblemished character.

On the night in question, the sisters were with a group of friends on Grafton Street when a white car reversed towards them at speed at around 1am.

Gráinne Walsh was in the path of the car and slapped her hands on the boot to alert the driver to their presence. She was not aware the car was an unmarked garda vehicle.

Aggressive and enraged, a garda jumped from the car, grabbed her violently and pushed her towards a garda van. When she resisted, she was handcuffed and forced on to the van floor. When her sister Ciara intervened, she was also pulled into the van.

Gráinne Walsh claimed she suffered further assault when she was taken from the van to the garda station. Both women were held in a locked cell until they were released without charge. They were later summonsed but the charges were dismissed by the District Court.

Aside from the original incident, Mr Lenihan it was a matter of concern that a perception of a conflict of interest could arise where a garda was building up a prosecution against a person for an assault on them, when that person had made a complaint against the garda involved.

Mr Lenihan said new guidelines had been drawn up for dealing with such cases, whereby they would be handled by a higher ranking garda.

“I hope that lessons have been drawn and procedures put in place to ensure that any such case in the future is dealt with in a proper and professional manner,” he said.