A garda who spear tackled a “skinny” teenager while he was handcuffed, slamming his head into the ground, has been jailed for a year.
Lorcan Murphy (32), of Pearse Street Garda station, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault causing harm under section three of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
The incident occurred in Dublin’s Temple Bar during a period of Covid-19 restrictions in 2021.
A jury unanimously convicted Murphy last July following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
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The assaults on the then 17-year-old took place on Essex Street, Dublin 2 and at Pearse Street Garda station on June 1st, 2021. The court heard the victim is now in prison.
During the trial, Dr Haroon Khan gave evidence of being called to Pearse Street Garda station to see the teenager following his arrest. He had noted that the victim was intoxicated and tried to rouse him, but did not speak to him before his transfer to hospital.
Consultant neurosurgeon John Caird gave evidence during the trial of the teenager having a skull fracture and a contusion to his brain. He said the victim had since made an excellent recovery.
Sentencing Murphy on Tuesday, Judge Pauline Codd said he used “excessive force” and the victim had “sustained a head trauma with all the risks”. She said Murphy could have been facing more serious charges.
She said the teenager had, at the time of the assault, “succumbed to the arrest” with witnesses pleading with the garda to let him go.
“He lifted him up by the handcuffs, used a spear tackle manoeuvre and dropped him down with force,” the judge said.
She acknowledged Murphy’s account was that he had used a “leg sweep manoeuvre” and accepted that while this movement is apparent on the CCTV footage of the assault, he “used force against a light, intoxicated teenager” and this “caused him to fall on top of his head”.
The judge said there was evidence that people pleaded with the garda to let the teenager go and that when the victim landed on his head, a sound resembling “a loud crack like a gunshot could be heard”.
“The victim was powerless when this level of force was applied by a garda,” the judge continued.
She said the jury clearly rejected Murphy’s account of events and argument that the force he used was justified.
“It is difficult to envisage how the manoeuvre he used could be justified,” the judge added.
She noted witnesses who said they saw Murphy use “a spear tackle like in rugby” and that the teenager was “slammed down into the ground”.
She said there were also statements that said the teenager was “lifted up and violently dropped”.
“No circumstances can justify his use of force and the level of force used,” the judge said.
She noted that the victim was described as “skinny, scrawny and light of build”. The judge said Murphy’s behaviour was “highly reckless and unjustifiable”.
She said it was important to point out that the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted that Murphy had acted “recklessly rather than intentionally” and that he was justified in arresting the victim in the first instance.
In mitigation, the judge accepted that Murphy was entitled to fight his case as “his career and livelihood were on the line”.
She said his career is now “left in tatters” and he has been left with a serious stain on his record due to his overzealous and aggressive conduct.
The judge acknowledged that Murphy took steps to ensure the teenager was medically attended to when he was brought to the Garda station. She further accepted a letter of apology the defendant had written to the victim since his conviction.
She noted that Murphy stated he was under pressure at the time. He now understands he should have handled the matter in a calmer manner and wished to convey his genuine remorse and sincere regret, she said.
She also took into account a number of references before the court and accepted that his behaviour on the day was out of character.
The judge acknowledged that it would be difficult for a former garda to serve time in prison before she imposed a three-year prison term with the final two years suspended for two years on strict conditions.
