Garda feared Aids after man bit him

A garda who feared he had contracted an infectious disease after he was bitten by a man has told the High Court he was unable to have sex with his wife for six months following the assault.

Garda Mark Kilbride, aged 41, told the court the incident happened in November 2000, when he and colleagues were escorting the man, who was agitated and aggressive, from his home to a mental-health unit in Sligo, where he was to be admitted as a voluntary patient.

The court heard during a Garda compensation hearing that when he approached him, the man, who he knew had a history of drug abuse “with needles”, pulled Garda Kilbride’s head back and sank his teeth into his right upper arm.

Garda Kilbride told his counsel, Sara Antoniotti, that he felt immediate and severe pain.

“It felt like he was trying to bite a chunk out of my arm,” Garda Kilbride told Mr Justice Bernard Barton.

He said he had been very worried for six months until final blood tests revealed he had not contracted Aids.

Garda Kilbride, who sued the public expenditure and reform minister, told the court that he had been worried about passing on any infectious disease to his wife and had refrained from sexual activity with her until he had been given the all-clear.

Judge Barton, awarding Garda Kilbride €18,000 damages, said he was satisfied his family and marital life had been interfered with as a result of the assault.