Man awarded €40,000 after excessive force from gardaí

A Dublin man whose arm was broken after he was arrested by the Garda Emergency Response Unit on his return from the North where he had purchased a quantity of fireworks has been awarded €40,000 in damages by the High Court.

Joseph Maher (aged 30) Landen Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin sued the Minister for Justice and the State for damages arising out of an incident that occurred near the Blanchardstown Exit on the M50 motorway on October 7, 2002.

Mr Maher had claimed that members of the gardaí had wrongfully and intentionally committed an assault and battery upon him which caused him to suffer serious personal injuries.

The defendants had denied the claims, and had claimed that Mr Maher was arrested after gardaí were informed that an attempt was being made by dissident Republicans to move explosives South of the Border.

Today at the High Court Mr Justice John Quirke awarded €40,000 in damages to Mr Maher after finding that the level of force used by the gardaí in the course of detaining Mr Maher was "excessive", and was satisfied that Maher's constitutional right to bodily integrity had been breached.

The court heard that Maher, an unemployed father-of-one and a recovering heroin user, had borrowed a pick up van to buy fireworks in the South and sell them for a profit in the Republic.

A number others individuals, travelling in a Ford Focus, were involved in this venture. Mr Maher drive his vehicle behind that car to the border.

Mr Maher claims that around 10pm night in question while on the M50 motorway the pick up he was driving was driven off the road by a Garda vehicle, and armed gardaí ordered him from his car and told him to put his hands in the air.

Mr Maher said he complied, but claims that a gun was put to his head by one member of the Garda unit. He says that while his hands were in the air, he was struck twice on the back of the head with a weapon.

As a result, he claims that he put his hands to his head, but was again struck on the arm.

He heard something crack and he fell to the ground. While on the ground, he alleges that a garda held his face down on the ground with his foot, and handcuffed him.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Quirke said that the level of force used by gardaí to apprehend a suspect must be reasonable. In this case, the level of force applied "was not warranted".

Noting that Mr Maher was involved in an illegal activity on the night of the incident, the Judge said that during the course of his detention Mr Maher suffered a laceration to the back of his head after he was struck, possibly by the butt of a gun, and suffered a broken arm.

However, the Judge said that he in no way wished to diminish the role played by the gardaí in an operation like this, where their own and public's lives could have been in danger.

The Judge said that on the date in question, both Mr Maher's vehicle and the Ford Focus were under surveillance by the gardaí, acting on information that an attempt was being made to move explosives from the North to the South.

The Judge said that evidence was given that the driver of the Ford Focus car was "an extremely dangerous and violent criminal".

That car was the property of a Strabane man who was a member of the Real IRA.

The Judge said that Mr Maher had claimed that he had no knowledge of those facts, and had told the court he was going to the North to buy bangers.

In their defence, gardaí claimed that Mr Maher alighted from his vehicle, and tried to depart the scene after a controlled stop.

They further claimed that Maher was intercepted, and sustained a minor cut to his head in the course of resisting lawful arrest by a Garda who used no more force than was reasonable in the circumstances.