AN IRISHMAN living abroad and his girlfriend had been treated appallingly by gardaí who unlawfully seized his €200,000 Andorran registered Porsche and left the couple stranded on the roadside, a judge said yesterday.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane, said the Garda had contested liability until it was no longer possible to do so.
She awarded €15,000 damages to Kerry-born Sean McCarthy and €4,000 to his partner, Colombian-born Patricia Rodriguez.
Barrister Hugh O’Keeffe, counsel for the couple, said the State had conceded liability as a result of its main defence witness, Garda Gary Quinn, accepting he had signed a document recording a finding of discreditable conduct against him by the Garda Ombudsman Commission.
Mr O’Keeffe said Blanchardstown based Garda Quinn had told the court under oath on Thursday that the only finding against him and his colleague, Garda Grainne Bligh, had been of an advisory nature suggesting they take more care when checking the documents of foreign registered vehicles.
Garda Quinn accepted yesterday that the disciplinary document produced by Mr O’Keeffe clearly stated he had conducted himself in a manner likely to bring discredit on An Garda Síochána and that he had signed the document only last month.
He said he had forgotten the exact wording of the document but had remembered its advisory nature regarding the future checking of vehicle documentation.