A 56-year-old Dublin man has been awarded €60,000 in damages by a High Court jury after he was ‘wrongfully assaulted’ by Gardaí.
The incident occurred back in December of 2002 when Mr Kevin Nolan was attending the afters of a funeral in Fowlers Public House, Ballyfermot, Dublin. He was asked to remove two people who were known to him from the front of the pub, because they were getting a bit ‘rowdy’ and refused to go home.
In the meantime, the Gardaí were called to the scene. However, Mr Nolan claims that when the fuzz arrived, they assaulted and unlawfully detained him in a Garda station.
It was while Mr Nolan tried to get the two lads he knew to go home that the Gardaí showed up. This is when Mr Nolan claims he was hit with a baton, knocked to the ground and cuffed.
However, the Gardaí in question denied the claims. According to them, they used reasonable force after Mr Nolan began to get boisterous after their arrival.
Following two hours of deliberation, the High Court jury decided that Mr Nolan had been assaulted and unlawfully detained and was entitled to damages, including exemplary damages, of €60,000.
Looks like Mr Nolan fought the law and the law didn’t win.
