Garda denies beating protestor in the head

A garda accused of assaulting a protester at the 2002 ‘Reclaim the Streets’ march in Dublin has claimed in evidence that he was justified in striking the man three times in the "upper body" but denied he ever hit him in the head.

"I don’t believe I struck Mr Fergal Leddy on the head. If I did it was not my intention to do so," Garda Paul Tallon told the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury.