Garda assaulted on patrol awarded €60,000 damages

A garda who was assaulted on patrol on two separate occasions has been awarded €60,000 damages in a High Court Garda Compensation hearing.

Garda Thomas Finnerty (32) suffered a fractured jaw and a broken nose after he was punched in the face and head-butted on two separate occasions.

Garda Finnerty told the court that he was on bicycle patrol in Ballyfermot, Dublin in August 2011 when he seized a car that had no tax or insurance.

Shortly afterwards he realised the driver had given a fake identity.

Barrister Ivan Daly, counsel for Garda Finnerty, told the court that his client had chased and caught up with the driver and told him he was being arrested.

The driver became agitated and punched Garda Finnerty several times, knocking him down.

The court heard how Garda Finnerty got up and pepper-sprayed his attacker before his colleagues arrived and took him into custody.

Garda Leahy, of Newton Manor, Kill, Co Kildare said he then felt dizzy and had fallen, hitting his back against a parking bollard.

X-rays at Naas General Hospital, Co Kildare, later revealed he had a broken jaw. He also suffered lower back pain which required anti-inflammatory medication.

Mr Daly also told Mr Justice Bernard Barton about another occasion in January 2012 when Garda Finnerty was dealing with an incident in Liffey Street South, Dublin.

A pizza delivery man had been given a forged €50 note in a house and when he told the customers it was a fake, they took the pizza and the €50 note back and closed the house door on him.

Garda Finnerty said he had gone to the house and had been speaking with a woman about retrieving the money when a man came to the door and had become aggressive. The man head-butted him on the nose and broke it.

Mr Daly said the injury had left a deviation to Garda Finnerty’s nose and he suffered a nasal breathing restriction as a result.

Garda Finnerty sued the State for damages in relation to both incidents. Judge Barton, awarding him a total of €60,000, said Garda Finnerty had been a very active man who had given up Gaelic football following his back injury.

The court heard Garda Finnerty, who had needed to give up cycling temporarily because of his injuries, wanted to go back to his sporting activities and intended taking part in the Wicklow 100 cycle event later this year.