A SERGEANT accused of assaulting a man told investigators he put his foot on the alleged injured party’s hand and neck to restrain him, a court has been told.
In an interview, Sgt Alan Kissane told officers from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission he and colleagues were trying to arrest Anthony Holness in Waterford at about 3am on January 29th, 2010.
Sgt Kissane, Sgt Martha McEnery and Garda Daniel Hickey all deny assaulting Mr Holness, causing him harm, while Garda John Burke denies acting with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of another and acting in a manner tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.
The alleged offences happened after Mr Holness was seen urinating on the street following a night out.
The commission’s deputy director of operations, Ray Leonard, told Waterford Circuit Court yesterday he and colleague Liam Hickey met Sgt Kissane and his solicitor on May 5th of last year. The sergeant had a prepared statement, which was read out in court yesterday.
He recalled being on duty with Sgt McEnery in a Garda van when they got a radio call for assistance from Garda Hickey, who was trying to arrest a man at New Street in the city.
On arrival at the scene, Sgt Kissane saw Garda Hickey leaning over Mr Holness and restraining him with his hands. Mr Holness was on the ground and his right arm and hand were outstretched, trying to lever himself up. “I restrained his hand with my right foot,” the sergeant said in his statement.
Shortly afterwards, trying to restrain the man, Sgt Kissane said he “placed my right foot to the rear, lower part of his neck and on top of his shoulder”.
He told the commission he did not “mistreat him or assault him in any way”.
Garda Hickey is alleged to have “repeatedly” punched Mr Holness in the head after the alleged injured party resisted arrest.
Garda Burke was operating the closed circuit television controls in the Garda station at the time and is alleged to have turned a camera away from the scene for a number of seconds.
In her interview with the commission investigators, Sgt McEnery said when they arrived at the scene she heard Mr Holness shouting things like “I’ll f . . . ing kill you” and “look, extra f . . . ing pigs”.
When he was on the ground, she noticed his left hand and arm under his body and was afraid he might have been concealing a weapon.
“In an attempt to get him to co-operate, I flicked my right hand a number of times at the back of his neck. At no time did I think what I was doing was excessive force,” she said.
Asked whether she was “worried” about the way in which the gardaí handled the arrest of Mr Holness, she said: “Not in relation to my conduct.”
The trial continues today.