Man awarded €18,000 for assaults by gardai

Another judge rules against an Garda Siochana. Mark Horan was awarded €18,000 by Judge Linnane in the Circuit Civil Court. Yet again another civil rather than criminal case.

Mr Horan, with addresses in Seapark, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, and Churchtown Road Upper, Dundrum, Co Dublin, had denied having told gardai­ to “f*** off” and having asked them: “Have you f****** nothing better to do.” He told his counsel, Paidraig Dwyer, that he and friends had left The Turk’s Head pub in Temple Bar, on July 4th, 2003, at about 3am. An unmarked garda car had started driving very slowly through the crowd and a garda shouted to get off the road. He may have responded in a cheeky way and said: “Have you nothing better to be doing tonight . . .” He denied having used abusive language.

Mr Horan told Mr Dwyer he had run off and had put his fingers up at chasing gardai­. He said he had been pinned against a doorway by one or two gardai­ who had punched him in the neck, back of the head and around his ears. As they had taken him to Pearse Street Garda station he was told: “You’ll never put your fingers up at a guard again.” In the station he was kicked and beaten by gardaa­ and held in a cell for an hour.

Mark Horan was assaulted by Gardai in a cell, he went to the Civil Courts and won. Even if what the Gardai said was true, it did not warrant the sort of action they took.