Garda hit protester, but 'not in head', court told

A Garda accused of assaulting a protester at the 2002 "Reclaim the Streets" march in Dublin has claimed he was justified in striking a protester three times in the "upper body" but denies he ever hit a protester in the head.

Garda Paul Tallon of Mountjoy Station, Dublin insisted from the witness box on day seven of his trial at the Circuit Criminal Court that he did not hit protester Fergal Leddy on the head. He said he was satisfied that the person he did strike with his baton was not hit on the head.