A MAN who has accused four gardaí of assaulting him had instructed a solicitor to sue for the injuries he received in the alleged beating, a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.
Gardaí Seán O’Leary, Eoin Murtagh, Alan Conlon and Claire Delaney have pleaded not guilty to forcing entry to a premises at Basin Street Upper, entering as trespassers and assaulting Owen Gaffney (21) causing him harm on February 17th, 2008.
Garda Murtagh, Garda Conlon and Garda Delaney also pleaded not guilty to the false imprisonment of Fidelma Gaffney on the same occasion.
Garda O’Leary, Garda Murtagh and Garda Delaney are based at Kilmainham Garda station and Garda Conlon is based at Kevin Street Garda station.
Yesterday under cross-examination, Mr Gaffney agreed with Conor Devally SC, defending Eoin Murtagh, that prior to being arrested in August 2010 he instructed a solicitor to take a civil action on his behalf.
He agreed he sued for injuries he received in the alleged beating.
“Did you ever tell the arresting guards you were going to get lots of money,” Mr Devally asked, to which Mr Gaffney replied: “I don’t think so, no”.
Mr Devally said Mr Gaffney made no mention of Garda Murtagh when he went to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
He asked Mr Gaffney why he did not tell the commission about the presence of Eoin Doherty, which he thought was Garda Murtagh’s surname at the time.
“He was there. He kicked me on the chin and hit me with a baton,” Mr Gaffney replied.
“The only reason you are saying he was there was because your friend told you he was, then you decide to get into the witness box and tell us he was there,” said Mr Devally.
Mr Devally also put it to him that there was an alert system in the flats whereby people would be warned if gardaí were coming. He said Mr Gaffney was warned that gardaí were coming to his house that day and was sitting on the edge of his bed.
Mr Gaffney denied this.
Mr Devally said phone records would show he had been contacted by his friend and that when his friend could not contact him he rang Mr Gaffney’s mother.
Mr Gaffney told Mr Devally he was kicked in the chin by Garda Murtagh but he agreed he did not sustain an injury.
Mr Devally also put it to Mr Gaffney that he was very violent and spat at the garda during the alleged incident.
Earlier Mr Gaffney told Hugh Harnett, defending Garda O’Leary, that he had a number of previous convictions, including one for assaulting a garda, but he said: “I was told I was better off to plead guilty or I’d end up going to prison.”
He said the garda’s jaw was not broken as he was able to talk to him after he arrested Mr Gaffney.
He also said he was serving a sentence which was the second half of a three-year term imposed on him for stealing a car which crashed into another car.
The trial continues.