A trainee prison officer, whose nose was broken by one of her colleagues demonstrating control and restraint techniques, has been awarded just over £16,000 damages in the Circuit Civil Court.
Judge Patrick McCartan said prison officer Ms Catherine Lydon had to undergo an operation to correct a deviated nasal septum to help her breathing and may need further corrective surgery.
Ms Lydon, of Clandey Road, Finglas East, Dublin, told her counsel, Mr Tony Hunt, she was part of a team attempting to restrain a fellow woman officer in what should have been a passive low-intensity demonstration of head and arm locks.
Ms Frances Daly, a control and restraint instructor, said she was role-playing the part of an inmate attempting to prevent three prison officers putting arm and head locks on her. She had been moving from side to side to demonstrate how they were failing in their efforts when Ms Lydon grabbed her legs to bring her down. As she fell forward her foot came up and struck Ms Lydon's face.
Cross-examined by Mr Hunt, she denied she got carried away in her role-playing part and had become violent and aggressive.
Judge McCartan said the evidence given by the parties was diametrically opposed but he preferred Ms Lydon's account of what had happened.
There did not appear to have been adequate supervision. What should have been a matter-of-fact learning process had gone wrong. Since Ms Lydon was a trainee, he felt a far higher degree of care and supervision than had been shown was required.