Garda awarded €100,000 after man spat blood on his face

A garda who claimed a man deliberately spat blood and saliva on him and threatened to infect him with HIV has been awarded €100,000 damages at a High Court garda compensation hearing.

Ms Justice Mary Irvine heard that Garda John McDonnell, aged 50, had been assaulted at Cashel Place, Cashel, Co Tipperary, in Nov 2007, while attempting to arrest a bloodied man who had just been involved in a scuffle.

Judge Irvine, in a reserved judgment, said it was unusual that Garda McDonnell had not immediately wiped the blood and saliva off his face as one might have expected of someone afraid of contracting an infection.

Instead, the judge said, Garda McDonnell returned to Cashel Garda Station where a colleague took photographs of the blood on his face before he had gone to wash it off.

Judge Irvine said Garda McDonnell had some short-lived concerns regarding the risk of infection but had been informed his assailant did not have HIV or Hepatitis C slightly over two weeks after the assault.

Garda McDonnell had sought compensation for the anxiety and distress that he allegedly suffered regarding potential infection, and for soft tissue injuries to his back, neck, and arms.

The judge said she was taking account of Garda McDonnell’s significant history of back problems. He had previously been awarded €40,000 under the Garda Compensation Acts for an assault that occurred during the course of his duties in 1998.

Judge Irvine said the garda was “a somewhat inconsistent historian” as to the extend of his injuries and as to his reasons for remaining out of work in 2008 and 2009.

“He took no realistic steps to make himself available for light work during the period in question and, had he returned to work as advised, he would not have sustained the loss of earnings he is now claiming,” Judge Irvine said.

The judge accepted the claim for loss of earnings immediately following the accident, and from 2010 until May of this year. She believed he would have enjoyed full policing duties for another five years had it not been for the assault.

She awarded Garda McDonnell €65,000 damages for personal injury; €31,000 for reduced past and future loss of earnings to the age of 55 and loss of gratuity; and €4,000 special damages.