A garda who felt bullied by his colleagues into quitting as public service vehicle inspector in Portlaoise has been awarded almost €90,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.
Judge Alan Mahon found that Garda Patrick McMahon, in only three days he lasted under an alleged regime of intimidation in Portlaoise, had unearthed very disturbing evidence of inadequate testing and suspicious recording of tests "which amounted to fraud."
The judge also criticised defence evidence tendered on behalf of the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner as "intended to mislead the court".
He said zero figures of overtime that could be earned by a PSV inspector were incorrect and known to be so by a number of Garda personnel in court during the hearing of the case. The truth of the matter had only been discovered following questioning by counsel and the court.
Judge Mahon awarded Garda McMahon, of Castlewood, Huntstown, Clonsilla, Dublin, €35,000 for allowances and earnings lost as a result of his having to quit his then new job, €50,000 damages for breach of contract and negligence by the Garda authorities and €2,776 special damages.
Mr Hugh Mohan, SC, counsel for Garda McMahon, told the court his client had been appointed PSV officer in Portlaoise in May 1992 but had been immediately "sent to Coventry" by his colleagues and met with harassment, intimidation and a complete lack of co-operation.
He had quit his job after only three days and returned to the Garda Depot in Phoenix Park as a mechanic. During his brief stay in Portlaoise he had been asked to write up a PSV log and discovered almost immediately there was something amiss.
He had been asked to enter private buses as having been tested when they had not been examination, discovered irregularities relating to local bus firms and found documents had been deliberately interfered with to show tests had been carried out when in fact they had not, Mr Mohan said
"Up to 60 school children had regularly been carried on buses later found to be dangerous and seriously unroadworthy but with certificates stating they had only recently passed PSV tests," he said.
Mr Mohan, who appeared with Mr Pat O'Connell, said another garda had for some years acted as and considered himself to be the PSV officer in Portlaoise and Garda McMahon's official appointment had been locally resented.
Garda McMahon said he had not before or since been treated as he had been by colleagues in Portlaoise. He said he had quickly realised he could not work in Portlaoise and had applied for a transfer, after which he had been taken ill because of the trauma and stress.
The court heard there had been convictions regarding unroadworthy buses which had been issued with certificates of road worthiness. One in particular had extensive rust, worn tyres, perished shock absorbers and worn steering mechanism with loose bolts. Investigations had led to the closing down of a garage where the inspections had taken place.