Trial of gardaí accused of assault opens

A man was punched in the face by a garda and then hit with a baton by another at the Reclaim The Street protest in Dublin two years ago, a court heard today.

Emmet Bunting, aged 28, had his upper and lower lip split open during the incident and received 14 stitches to them when he was brought to hospital.

Garda Fergus Hogan and Garda Paul Daly, both attached to Pearse Street Garda Station, deny the charges of assaulting Mr Bunting and causing him harm on May 6, 2002.

At the Circuit Criminal Court, senior counsel for the prosecution Tom O’Connell said it was the State’s case that what happened to Mr Bunting was an assault for which there was no legal justification or lawful excuse.

Garda Fergus Hogan from Ruanbeg Avenue, Dublin Road, County Kildare, is charged with punching Mr Bunting and Garda Daly from Monelagh Grove, Firhouse, County Dublin, is charged with hitting him with the baton after he fell to the ground.