'Tipperary garda's life saved by passer-by' after he responded to dangerous situation alone

Garda 'could have lost his life' responding on his own to a mental health call involving a knife which was removed by a civilian

Delegates at the Garda Representative Association annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, where GRA Tipperary representative Richie Kennedy told the 'Irish Examiner' about the assaults gardaí endure daily. Picture: Conor Ó Mearáin

The intervention of a passer-by helped save the life of a Tipperary garda who was assaulted when responding alone to a call, according to a member of the Garda Representative Association (GRA).

A member of the association’s central executive, Richie Kennedy, told the Irish Examiner at the GRA annual conference in Killarney that the garda was lucky to escape with his life, having had to respond to the call on his own in Clogheen last June.

He said: “We had a case last year where a member had to attend to a mental health call on his own and only for the intervention of a passer-by removing a knife from the situation, the member would have been lucky to come out of it. He was injured but he could have lost his life. He has not returned to work.”

The garda is one of a number of gardaí in the Tipperary-Clare division currently out of work or on desk duty because of being injured at work.

Mr Kennedy continued: “There is not a day goes by that there isn’t a garda assaulted — punched in the face, kicked, spat at. 

"There was a time when you would go to a call when maybe there was a serious public order incident, there would be a second car coming out but that day is gone.”

He said he himself was out of work for almost a year after being assaulted in recent years:

I went to a public order incident on my own and was assaulted by two males. I had torn ligaments in my elbow. In my case, I was waiting 40 minutes for another [Garda] car to come. It was in broad daylight in the middle of the day in Roscrea.

Mr Kennedy said the garda in the incident in Clogheen was lucky.

“It is my big fear that it is only going to be a matter of time before there is going to be a member badly assaulted on one of these calls because they will be on their own for a long time waiting for back up.”

He said that a fall in garda numbers has hit towns like Roscrea, which, he says, now has 1,000 extra people because of the opening of an international protection centre in the locality.

He added: “We have had a huge population increase but we do not have the resources to match up with it. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. 

I am going to matches and being asked to sign passport forms on the sidelines. This is what people have to resort to, to get a basic policing service. 

He said garda resources are spread “like a sliver of butter over 10 slices of bread”.

“The members cannot continue at this pace — that is why we have resignations, that is why we have people racing to get into specialised units and get away from frontline because they can’t keep doing it.”

Mr Kennedy was speaking ahead of a motion brought on Wednesday by the Tipperary branch of the GRA, calling on the Garda Commissioner to urgently review the process of issuing certificates confirming that a member has been injured on duty, which is required to enable officers to access their pay and allowances.

He cited one case where a garda was waiting for 18 months for the certificate and as a result, she was receiving just €50 per week.

An Garda Síochána listed a number of areas which have been addressed by the association, including “support for legislative acknowledgment of the particular need to deter the assault of gardaí”, including the successful petitioning for an increased penalty from seven to 12 years for assault on a garda.

“Additional protective equipment has been provided, including stronger incapacitant spray, improved non-lethal equipment for ERU and ASU, and vehicles and training for public order Gardaí,” said a statement.

It also said: “There has been a focused expansion of welfare and support services including over 3,000 Garda personnel trained in mental health first aid.”