Sergeant: I didn’t witness assaults

A Garda sergeant has told the High Court he did not see any assaults by gardaí on three local men during a protest against the Shell Corrib gas refinery in north Mayo.

There was pushing and shoving by both gardaí and protesters as a convoy of Shell workers approached the refinery on January 19, 2007, Sgt Dermot Butler said.

He was present when two fishermen, brothers Patrick and Martin O’Donnell, approached a Garda filming the protest and asked him to record their injuries, Sgt Butler said. He was aware another local man, Patrick Coyle, made a complaint at Belmullet Garda Station later that day alleging he was assaulted by two gardaí.