A GARDA accused of assaulting a man during an arrest has been acquitted by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury.
Garda Brendan Whitty (29), stationed at Kevin Street Garda station, had pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Keith Murphy on Thomas Street in Dublin on September 20th, 2007.
The trial had previously heard Mr Murphy died hours after the alleged assault but that his death was from a drug overdose and unrelated to the garda’s actions.
The jury of six men and six women took less than an hour to find Garda Whitty not guilty. It was day six of the trial.
Judge Desmond Hogan thanked the jury for their service before he told the garda he was free to go.
The jury heard evidence from Garda Whitty yesterday that he had not filed a report on the incident until the next day after he had found out the man had died.
Garda Whitty said he had not filled out a report detailing the use of his baton that day because his shift was finished and he “did not see the urgency in doing it”. The garda denied a suggestion by prosecuting counsel, Shane Costelloe BL, that he used “far more force than was required to control the situation” while arresting Mr Murphy.
“I did not use excessive force,” Garda Whitty said. “I used enough force to protect myself and to stop myself from being overpowered.”
He told defence counsel Hugh Hartnett SC that he had been a garda for three years at the time of the incident and was working in a community policing role. He said he was on foot patrol in the Thomas Street area when he saw two men having an argument.
He said he went to them with the intention of taking their names and telling them to leave the area but Mr Murphy became aggressive and shouted, “What the f*** are you doing?” and “Who the f*** are you?”
Garda Whitty said Mr Murphy pushed him back and knocked off his hat. He said Mr Murphy continued to be “extremely aggressive” and had his hands over his head so he decided to arrest him for a public order offence.
He said he took one of Mr Murphy’s wrists to handcuff him but Mr Murphy resisted. Garda Whitty said when he called for assistance on his radio, Mr Murphy “went bananas” and lunged at him as if to punch him, so he took out his ASP baton and told him to get back. He said he struck him once but that it had no effect.
“I knew if he got his hands on me that I was going to be in serious trouble so I hit him again,” he told Mr Hartnett. He said he struck him several more times.
He told Mr Costelloe he brought Mr Murphy to the station and charged him with public order offences. He said he did not fill out “a baton report” as required by procedures because his shift was over and “it had been a long day”.