Garda awarded €75k in damages after assault

A 34-year-old garda who claimed she lost her ambition to become a sergeant because of post-traumatic stress disorder after an assault while on duty has been awarded €75,000 damages in the High Court.

Garda Claire Sheehan, who suffered a broken nose during the assault, told a Garda compensation hearing that in March 2007 she had assisted colleagues in apprehending and escorting a young man, charged with theft, to Bridewell Garda Station in Cork, where she is stationed.

While watching the man, she had seen him putting his hand in a back pocket and, concerned that he may have a weapon, had approached him and asked what he was doing when he suddenly punched her in the face.