Gardai trained to shoot at torso, says expert

Barr Tribunal: Armed gardaí are trained to shoot at the torso of an assailant and not the legs or lower body, a Garda training expert has told the Barr tribunal.

The tribunal is investigating the fatal shooting of Mr John Cathy by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU)outside his home at Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000.

The 27-year-old, who suffered manic depression, was shot four times from behind - twice in the legs, once in the small of the back and finally through the heart - after he emerged from his house carrying a loaded shot gun.

The head of training at Templemore Garda College, Co Tipperary, Chief Supt Kevin Ludlow, told the tribunal that armed gardaí are tested on ability to fire at the inner part of the torso before they can attain firearms authorisation.

"The training programme focuses on instruction on firing at the torso, but the final decision is down to the individual member depending on the situation."

Chief Supt Ludlow is advising the tribunal on the firearms training provided at the Garda College in relation to tactical use of revolvers, pistols and Uzi submachine guns and firing range testing.

Reviews of firearms training were conducted in 1990 and in 1993. Both reviews recommended that armed gardaí be given tactical training in how to decipher between "shoot and non shoot" situations. This recommendation was never implemented, Chief Supt Ludlow said, because of a lack of training facilities.

Another recommendation, that gardaí train in teamwork or the "buddy system" - training in tandem with another member on the firing range - was also abandoned, due to lack of training facilities and staffing considerations.

A proposal to locate a new Garda outdoor firing range at Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare, "never came to fruition", Chief Supt Ludlow said.

Tactical firearms training did include instruction on assessment of situations, concealment, tacking cover and containment, he said. Gardaí trained after 1990 would also have training in "appreciation of the difficulties and dangers of plain clothes presences at armed operations". Those trained before 1990 would not have received this specific instruction, but safety "would always have been discussed with them". Armed gardaí are required to take a refresher course twice a year to retain their firearms authorisation card, necessary to carry a weapon.

Asked if tactical training involved formal discussions on how the ERU and local members would work together in armed operations, Chief Supt Ludlow said he could not say from his own knowledge, but he "suspected that it would happen".