Garda ‘assault’ settlements treble in five years

THE amount of money paid out to people who say they were assaulted by gardaí has almost trebled in the last five years.

Figures show the State paid out €369,734 on cases of alleged assault in 2001, compared to €76,452 in 1997.

Department of Justice figures show 6m was paid to people who took civil cases against gardaí between 1997 and 2001, including: