A Garda has been awarded €4,000 after being assaulted by his girlfriend’s brother whom he was restrain with colleagues outside a Letterkenny nightclub.
High Court Judge Justice Michael Twomey was advised that Garda Fintan Smith was headbutted by the individual in question, leading to a black eye and nose bleed. Garda Smith stated that, following the initial headbutt incident, he was sitting in the front of the Garda car when his assailant was sitting in the rear seat in handcuffs for transport to Letterkenny Garda Station. At this point he was kicked to the side of the head by the man.
Garda Smith advised the Judge that he no longer has any relationship with the individual. However, he still has excellent relations with the other members of his girlfriend’s family. Garda Smith and his girlfriend have since married and, he said in a response to his legal counsel’s question, although his girlfriend’s brother had been invited to the wedding in May 2018 he (the brother) had not turned up. He (Garda Smith) added that his preference is now not to attend any family events if he is aware that his brother-in-law will be there.
His legal counsel, Ms Fiona Crawford, submitted that her client had sustained an injured nose but X-rays had revealed no bone injury.
The High Court was advised that the incident had caused a lot of trauma between Garda Smith and his partner. Due to this he sought, and received, a transfer from Letterkenny to Ballybofey Garda Station. Garda Smith said that the entire episode lead to him being very angry. He added that his now brother-in-law had been in trouble with the gardaí at the time of the event and was not the sort of person who would respect the gardaí.
He (Garda Smith) missed a month of work due to the embarrassment caused.
Judge Twomey accepted that Garda Smith’s brother-in-law had a negative attitude towards garda and awarded Garda Smith workplace compensation of €4,000 for the injuries he sustained.