Damages for man with autism ‘treated despicably’ by gardaí

An action over the arrest and detention for 90 minutes in a Garda station of a young man, who has a severe form of autism and profound intellectual disabilities, has settled on terms including payment by the State of undisclosed damages.

The man’s aunt, who cares for him following the death of his mother, told the High Court her nephew was “treated despicably”.

To subject such a vulnerable young man to “total assault” was “disgraceful” and the experience left him upset for a very long time, she said. If “one good thing” was to come out of this “awful experience”, it would be compuslory training of gardai for dealing with persons with special needs, she added.

Mr Justice Colm MacEochaidh said, had there been no other issues in the case, he would consider the damages offer “too small” but there were issues about liability. He agreed with Paul McGarry SC, for the man, there would be evidential difficulties if the case proceeded.

Recommending the settlement, Mr McGarry said there was a “big issue” whether the man was lawfully detained under the Mental Health Act 2001. The man himself cannot communicate verbally and his mother was also dead so neither could give evidence.

A witness who phoned gardaí alleging the man was chasing two girls with a stick — the incident which led to his arrest — would not have assisted his side’s case in relation to the motivation of gardaí, he added.

In the circumstances, the judge said he would approve the settlement and also paid tribute to the man’s aunt for her care for him.

The case was against the Garda Commissioner and State who denied the claims, including that the man’s arrest was made in bad faith or breached his constitutional rights.

Chased girls

Gardaí argued they bona fide arrested the man under the Mental Health Act 2001 (the 2001 Act) after he was identified to them by another man as having chased the girls. He was handcuffed after responding agressively, they said.

The court heard the complaints about the girls being chased with a stick followed separate complaints made days earlier of alleged sexual assaults. It was accepted the plaintiff had nothing to do with any sexual assaults, the court was told.

In his action, it was alleged the man, then aged in his mid twenties and who cannot be indentified, was playing outside a relative’s house on September 25th 2010 while his terminally ill mother had a medical appointment.

Due to his autism, he engages in repetitive behaviours over years, including watching horses near the relatives’ house and was watching horses when gardaí approached him.

It was alleged he was forcibly handcuffed behind his back and forced into a Garda car. This arrest, effected under the 2001 Act, occurred where it was clear the young man was suffering from a disability but no effort was made to inform his relatives or neighbours, it was claimed.

Gardaí pleaded there was no indication of the man being under supervision at the time.

Friction burns

It was claimed the man arrived at 5.10pm at the nearby Garda station and was detained and searched in the absence of a doctor, parents or relatives. It was claimed he suffered friction burns trying to lessen the impact of the handcuffs.

His mother had returned from her appointment at about 5pm and with relatives was frantically searching for him, it was claimed. At 5.30pm, a detective sergeant informed her the man was in the Garda station arrested on suspicion of chasing two girls with a stick.

The mother demanded his immediate release when she got to the station at 5.40pm but gardaí said he could not be freed before having a medical assessment under the 2001 Act. The man’s father, himself a doctor, arrived at about 6pm and was told the man might be detained another 90 minutes due to delay getting a doctor.

Gardaí denied, on learning the father was a doctor, engaging in a “charade” of asking him to assess his son under the Act.  It was claimed the father, to have his son released, agreed to sign his details after which the man was released.

It was claimed the man was physically sick, shaking and unable to sleep for some days and a consultant psychiatrist later assessed the impact of the incident on him as moderate to severe.

His mother complained to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission about the incident but died in 2012 without receiving any apology, it was claimed.