THE man who claims he was assaulted in Garda custody after an "anti drugs" demonstration is to be charged with assaulting a garda who was punched and kicked at the demonstration.
An investigation into the man's allegations is also understood to have found that his facial injuries occurred while he was in a cell at Fitzgibbon Street station and not, as claimed, in a Garda van on the way to the station.
The assault charge will be brought as soon as the garda injured during the demonstration in the north inner city last Tuesday week, is fit to return to work and go into court.
Apart from a lengthy record of convictions for minor offences, the man was sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment in 1989 or assaulting a garda.
He has also made previous complaints of garda assault, none of which has been substantiated.
He was arrested after the demonstration outside the home of a heroin addict, a man in his 30s who has AIDS, at Coventry Place flats in north inner Dublin.
During the incident four gardai, one female, were trapped by anti drugs protesters on the balcony of the block where the heroin addict lives.
Gardai reported that two men, who appeared to be leading the assault on the flat, called for support from a group of about 200 people who had joined the demonstration at the flats complex.
Gardai say this group rushed to the balcony and the four officers were subject to assaults of varying degrees for five to 10 minutes.
One garda, who was nearest the flat, was punched hard twice in the side of the head, kicked and struck on the back.
He suffered concussion and severe bruising. The female garda was also punched and kicked. Other officers arrived with a van from Fitzgibbon Street station.
After negotiation with the leaders of the demonstration, the man who had led the assault on the flat and who gardai insist punched the male garda agreed to go to Fitzgibbon Street in the Garda van. Gardai agree that the man was arrested without further incident and went voluntarily.
A spokesman on behalf of the man later claimed the man was assaulted while in the van. Gardai deny this.
They say two officers were in the front of the van and the officer who was punched travelled in the back with the man, who was delivered to the station without incident and uninjured.
It is understood there is a medical record to support the claim that when he reached the station at 9.44 p.m., he was uninjured but a short time after being placed in a cell he had a facial injury. Gardai are insisting that his injuries were self inflicted while he was alone in the cell.
The man is pursuing a legal action against the gardai claiming he was assaulted.
The garda he has accused of assaulting him was taken to the Mater Hospital for X rays and observation immediately after being driven in the van from Fitzgibbon Street.
He spent about four hours in the hospital. The female garda was also examined and allowed home after a shorter period.
It is understood that doctors at the Mater immediately gave the injured male garda a sickness certificate and recommended that he take time off to recover.
The officer was still in hospital when the man was brought to court to face assault charges. As a result the court refused to allow the charge to be brought.
But Garda sources indicate the charge will be reinstated as soon as the officer is fit to return to work.
The incident has become a source of concern for gardai serving in Fitzgibbon Street where anti drugs activists have been picketing the station and making allegations about Garda behaviour.
The Garda denies the claims by anti drug group leaders and some local political figures that relations between the gardai and the local community have deteriorated.
Gardai are also concerned at the increasingly violent activities of the anti drugs groups.
The man who was the subject of the protest at the flat in Coventry Place is in the advanced stages of AIDS. He is extremely thin and weak and may not have long to live. Local gardai say the man is not suspected of being a significant supplier of drugs.
The following day another attempt was made to illegally evict a single mother, who gardai say has a drug problem but is not regarded as a drug supplier, from a flat in the same area.
The gardai are particularly unhappy about the actions of local political figures who, they say, immediately accepted the word of the man at the centre of the assault allegations.