Garda feared for his life

A Garda who claimed he feared for his life when he was assaulted in a “frenzied kung fu-style attack” has been awarded €60,000 damages in the High Court.

Garda Niall Mangan, aged 46, told the court that, in April 2009, he had been patrolling in Carrigaline, Co Cork, with a colleague when they attended a public order disturbance that involved youths drinking in a forest.

He told a Garda compensation hearing that the drinkers were extremely intoxicated but most of them had agreed to leave the area. One man had become very aggressive but eventually agreed to leave too.