Ex-garda assaulted and dragged to river by ‘enormous semi-naked’ man

A retired garda, who feared for his life when he was assaulted and dragged towards a river by an “enormous semi-naked” man, was yesterday awarded €80,000 compensation in the High Court.

Ms Justice Carmel Stewart said during a Garda Compensation hearing that former garda Michael Power had been left with physical and psychological injuries following the assault in Cahir, Co Tipperary, on August 30, 2002.

Mr Power, aged 58, had told the court that he had been patrolling Cahir in a garda car with colleague Garda Tom Kelly that night, when they received a call about a semi-naked man acting violently in the town. The court heard that the man had damaged a number of vehicles by putting his fists through car windows.

Mr Power, of Mitchelstown Rd, Cahir, told his counsel Maurice Dockrell that he and Garda Kelly, after having found the damage done to vehicles, eventually came across the man, who was wearing only boxer shorts.

When the two gardaí had proceeded to arrest the man, he started to throw punches at Garda Kelly out of the blue.

The judge was told that the man had managed to grab Garda Power by the head and carried him “like a dishcloth” over his shoulder, before throwing him to the ground and dragging him by his right leg towards a nearby river.

Mr Power said that it took two further gardaí who had arrived on the scene to eventually restrain and handcuff the man, who was not identified in court. The court was also not told about what action gardaí ultimately took against the man concerned.

Judge Stewart awarded Mr Power €60,000 for pain and suffering, €13,554 for loss of earnings, and €6,504 for fees and expenses, a total of €80,058.

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