Witnesses disagree on May Day events

An expert witness told a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that Garda Paul Daly hit a protester with his baton on the junction of Parliament St and Dame St during the "Reclaim the Streets" demonstration on May Day 2002.

Mr Andrew Laws, a consultant forensic imagery analysts, was giving evidence in the trial of Gda Daly and Garda Fergus Hogan, both attached to Pearse Street Garda Station. They have pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Mr Emmet Bunting (aged 28) of Collins Avenue Dublin, on May 6, 2002.

Mr Laws told Mr Tom O’Connell SC (with Mr Bernard Condon BL) prosecuting, that he concluded after analysing video footage of the assault on Mr Bunting, that man A punches the protester and he falls to the ground.

Then Gda Paul Daly strikes the protester twice in the lower region of the torso with his baton, Mr Laws said.

He had been asked by the prosecution to compare an image of Gda Hogan taken on Burgh Quay to the man suspected of punching the protester (known as man A).

Mr Laws told Mr O’Connell he was unable to find significant differences between the two men to conclude that "they were not the same man". He did find significant similarities between the two and made reference to the shape of the ear and nose, and similarities in clothing and jewellery.

"Based on the facial features, in my view, there is strong support to contend that the two men (the man identified as Gda Hogan and the man who punched Mr Bunting) are one in the same."

He further clarified that man A punched Mr Bunting with his right hand.

Mr Laws agreed with Mr Gerard Clarke SC (with Mr Breffni Gordon BL), defending, that he had no formal training in facial imagery but added that no such training is available.

He agreed that he initially thought Gda Daly hit Mr Bunting on the head with his baton but after viewing the assault from a different angle concluded that he was in fact hit on his torso.

Mr Laws said that it is not possible to see the actual contact of the garda’s fist with Mr Bunting’s face but in his view it was "a good old fashioned punch. The video speaks for itself."

He did not accept a suggestion from Mr Clarke that it is possible that as the punch was thrown the protester moves to avoid it and then falls backward.

"It looks like a punch and has all the characteristics of impact being made but I agree that you cannot see the contact," he said.

Mr Ashley Windsor, an expert in imagery and facial analysis, told Mr Clarke, defending, that the methods used by Mr Laws were not accurate.

He told Mr Clarke there was little evidence of similarity between the two men bar the fact they were two uniformed gardaí, with white skin and dark hair. He found discrepancies in the hats of both men, the rear part of the skull, their nasal profile and their chin profile.

Mr Windsor looked at the video footage and selected a number of uniformed officer whom he found to have similar basic profiles to that of Gda Hogan and concluded that he could not agree with prosecution witness that the two men are the same person.

He told the jury that in the period just after the alleged punch on the injured party, an officer in a blue uniform seems to strike the head of Mr Bunting as he falls to the ground.

Mr Windsor agreed with Mr O’Connell in cross-examination that the footage appeared to show a garda wearing a cap lunge forward and strike out at Mr Bunting, knocking him backwards.

He said the footage does not show the point of contact and the protester’s head moves in the opposite direction to which it should have if the garda’s fist had made impact with his face.

He did not accept Mr O’Connell’s suggestion that although the video does not show the actual impact, it is obvious from the sequence of events that the garda punched Mr Bunting knocking him backwards.

Mr Windsor told Mr Clarke in re-examination that if the garda’s fist had made impact with Mr Bunting’s head, it would either have turned sharply to the right or moved backwards in the direction of the punch. He said there was no apparent rotation of the head and it actually moves in the opposite direction.

The trial continues before Judge Yvonne Murphy and a jury of seven men and five women.