Gardaí found men assaulting semi-naked woman in house
At a Garda Compensation Hearing, Garda Michael O’Hara told the High Court that in April 2008, while patrolling in a police car in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, he and a colleague had received an urgent call to a house from which neighbours reported they had heard screams.
The garda said when they arrived at the house, he heard a woman shouting for help from inside.
Garda O’Hara, who is now stationed at Castlebar Garda Station, Co Mayo, said in an affidavit he and his colleague had entered the house through the unlocked front door and saw a semi-naked woman screaming at a man.
He told his barrister Bríd O’Flaherty the woman had been wearing only an unbuttoned shirt and the man was holding her down on a couch in the sitting room, threatening to kill her.
Ms Justice Mary Irvine heard a second man was shouting abuse at the woman and encouraging the other man to “hit the bitch”. Both men had been intoxicated and were agitated and aggressive.
Garda O’Hara said he succeeded in getting the woman out of the room. Her assailants had tried to follow her.
He said the two men had started to punch each other and he and his colleague managed to get them outside the house.
His colleague called for Garda assistance as the men were trying to get back into the house.
When back-up arrived, the men had been arrested and taken to Castleblayney Garda Station. The woman had been placed in a police car for her own safety.
Judge Irvine was told Garda O’Hara suffered a fracture to a bone in his right hand while trying to restrain one of the men. When overpowered and handcuffed, the man had threatened to come back and shoot Garda O’Hara.
He told the court his hand had been in a cast for a number of weeks. He had been out of work for several months and had been unable to play sports.
Judge Irvine awarded Garda O’Hara €14,000 compensation against the minister for finance.
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