A trainee manager, whose eardrums were damaged in an assault by gardaí, has been awarded €18,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane said she accepted Mark Horan's account about an assault by a garda on the street and a beating by gardaí in a city Garda station after he had given them "the fingers."
Mr Horan, with addresses in Seapark, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, and Churchtown Road Upper, Dundrum, Co Dublin, had denied having told gardaí to "f*** off" and having asked them: "Have you f****** nothing better to do." He told his counsel, Pádraig 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 gardaí. He said he had been pinned against a doorway by one or two gardaí 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 gardaí and held in a cell for an hour.