The mother of a young Co Mayo man who took his life after he was blinded in one eye and disfigured for life following an assault was indirectly awarded compensation originally intended for her son.
Galway Circuit Court was told there was no provision in Irish law to clarify what happens to a compensation order in the event of the recipient dying subsequently.
There is, however, provision in British and Canadian law, both of which state that under such circumstance compensation ceases.
The issue arose yesterday when Mr John Jordan, for the State, sought clarification on a compensation order made by Judge Carroll Moran following an assault case heard at Westport Circuit Court last May.
Mr Damien Garrett, from Crossmolina, Co Mayo, was aged 21 when he was hit in the face with a glass by Vincent O'Hora (27), of Lord Edward Street, Ballina, Co Mayo, in a pub following a hurling match in October 1999.
Judge Moran had said then it was the worst case of assault he had ever heard and he sentenced O'Hora to 10 years in prison. The sentence was suspended for 20 years, on condition that O'Hora paid Mr Garrett £100 a week compensation for the next 20 years, amounting in total to £100,000.
The matter was raised again in July before Galway Circuit Court when the judge amended his order to ensure the compensation was index-linked over the next 20 years.
Following the assault, Mr Garrett became increasingly depressed about his disfigurement and left a suicide note before fatally crashing his car into a bridge on August 15th last.
In court yesterday Mr Jordan, on behalf of the State, sought clarification of the original court order in the light of the death of Mr Garrett.
He said O'Hora had continued to make the weekly payments to Mr Garrett, but this was causing distress to the Garrett family as the cheques arrived in the post in their dead son's name.
Mr Jordan said there was an anomaly in Irish legislation in that Section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1993, did not say anything about what happened to a compensation order in the event of the death of the person in favour of whom the order was made.
He said the effect of the order was to award the victim £100,000, and the benefit of the order should now accrue to his estate.
Mr John Kiely, for O'Hora, stressed that his client had being paying the weekly compensation since the order was made last May and would continue to do so.
He had no objection to the name on the weekly cheque being changed to that of Mrs Garrett.