Man with autism cleared to sue State and gardaí over arrest
Their stated actions had caused great distress to his parents, Mr Justice Gerard Hogan said as he applied reporting restrictions to protect the man’s identity. He has been given the pseudonym of Mr X.
Pauline Walley SC, who appeared for Mr X with Liz Walsh BL, said the man, now in his mid-20s, had been wrongly arrested and handcuffed.
She was granted leave to sue the State and the Garda Commissioner for aggravated, punitive, and exemplary damages for wrongful arrest and “the appalling manner in which [Mr X] has been treated”.
Mr X’s mother, who had been his primary carer, died of cancer earlier this year. Her sister, now guardian and legal “next friend” of Mr X, said he had developed severe intellectual disabilities, had little or no speech, and was extremely socially impaired.
She told the court she had assisted in Mr X’s care all his life and, three years before her sister’s death, she had cared for both of them on a daily basis.
She said Mr X loved watching horses in a field by his grandparents’ home, always standing in the same spot, beyond which he did not go.
On Sept 24, 2010, he was watching horses at his grandparents’ home when he was arrested.
“He appears to have been forcibly detained, which included the gardaí manacling him with handcuffs behind his back, which caused him physical and psychological injury,” his aunt told the court.
His mother went to the Co Donegal Garda station in which he was held. When gardaí brought him out, they were wearing latex gloves. Mr X “nearly took the door off trying to get to the toilet”, his mother told her sister.
His wrists were red from friction burns. Gardaí told his mother they were holding him under the Mental Health Act, as he had chased two girls and had been arrested “quite some distance” from where he watched the horses. Mr X’s mother did not believe them, the court was told.
Mr X’s aunt said the matter had been a source of distress to her sister. She never received an apology, and the Garda Ombudsman had been unable to get information from the gardaí involved.
“Before my sister died she nominated me… to replace her as his next friend in this or any appropriate action against An Garda Síochána,” she said.
“It was my sister’s dying wish that this case be pursued so that the wrong done to her son would be acknowledged, to vindicate his good name and that what happened to him would never happen to another special needs person.”
Mr X’s father said he was also one of his guardians.
“He was our only child and we remained friends throughout her life. I care deeply for [him],” he said.
He went to the Garda station when Mr X’s mother called to say gardaí would not release him.
When the gardaí were told he was Mr X’s father and a doctor, they asked him to “sign him out”. He said his overwhelming desire was to have his son released and had signed, even though he knew relatives were specifically precluded from making any release recommendation under the legislation under which Mr X was detained.
Judge Hogan said he was “absolutely satisfied” that the plaintiff, Mr X, satisfied the legal demands permitting his aunt to take proceedings in his name.
He said the proceedings were very far from being vexatious or frivolous, the only grounds on which he could have refused leave for the action to go ahead.
