An award of compensation for Garda injuries has been made to an officer who suffered hip and leg injuries when his patrol car was rammed in a fatal accident.
Garda Bernard McLoughlin and colleague Garda Gary McLoughlin were involved in the accident in December 2009, when the patrol car in which they were travelling was rammed by a car driven by Martin McDermott, of Raphoe, County Donegal.
Garda Gary McLoughlin died from the injuries he sustained in the accident, while Garda Bernard McLoughlin was unable to continue his duties and has taken educational leave to study in Australia for the past three years. McDermott was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for manslaughter in July 2011.
At the High Court in Dublin, Ms Justice Mary Irvine heard how Garda Bernard McLoughlin of Buncrana, County Donegal, had found a pulse on his colleague after the accident and held his colleague´s head in a recovery position in their wrecked patrol car until emergency services arrived. However, his actions were not enough to save his friend´s life, and Garda Gary McLoughlin died several hours later in hospital.
Awarding Garda Bernard McLoughlin €45,000 compensation for Garda injuries, Ms Justice Irvine said the two officers who shared the same surname were more than colleagues. They had been close friends who had lived and trained together during their training at Templemore before working together in Buncrana.