House Raided by Mistake.

Member16

Mod feel free to move/merge.

Can anybody give me some advice on the following. My mothers house was raided today by mistake, guards in plain clothes kicked in the door,pushed my mother and brother out of the way and ran upstairs. They then began searching an upstairs bedroom. They never once announced who they were, my mother began to take a panic attack and then they asked by brother what number house it was. He told them it was let's say 20 and they replied that they were in the wrong house and it should have been 22. What are the relevant steps we should take?

kerryked

Firstly, check if they were actually members of the Garda Siochana?

Can't offer you any advice other than that unfortunately, wouldn't have a clue.

Hope your mother and brother are okay.

pilly

Are you sure they were Gardai? This could be a scam. Check nothing is gone.

Member16

kerryked wrote: »

Firstly, check if they were actually members of the Garda Siochana?

Can't offer you any advice other than that unfortunately, wouldn't have a clue.

Hope your mother and brother are okay.

Thanks they are a bit shaken but unharmed. They were members of GS as a Garda sgt actually came in to the house when it was all over and showed a warrant with the actual intended address he apologised and said he would have to talk to his lads to see what went wrong and he would get back to my mother. All advice welcome cheers

billie1b

Mistake was made, they owned up to it, admitted it, apologised and said they would update on the situation. If it was me i'd just be happy with them getting the door repaired and other damages sorted.

Edit : Sorry, forgot to mention, hope your mother and brother are fine and your mum gets better soon

Indricotherium

billie1b wrote: »

Mistake was made, they owned up to it, admitted it, apologised and said they would update on the situation. If it was me i'd just be happy with them getting the door repaired and other damages sorted.

And make sure the new door has a number on It!

Ted111

Camera.
Lots of pics. Before tidy up. Audit damage keep receipts for repair. All of you into gsoc abbey st tomorrow make statements. Then engage a solicitor. You have right to enjoy privacy of your own home with out invasion. If garda showed you the search warrant then you could have alerted h to his mistake. This is what can go wrong when you execute warrant illegal manner. These laws are there for a reason.

njs030

Member16 wrote: »

Thanks they are a bit shaken but unharmed. They were members of GS as a Garda sgt actually came in to the house when it was all over and showed a warrant with the actual intended address he apologised and said he would have to talk to his lads to see what went wrong and he would get back to my mother. All advice welcome cheers

Complain to superintendent at the station an apology isn't good enough that's a disgrace.

JustLen

billie1b wrote: »

Mistake was made, they owned up to it, admitted it, apologised and said they would update on the situation. If it was me i'd just be happy with them getting the door repaired and other damages sorted.

Edit : Sorry, forgot to mention, hope your mother and brother are fine and your mum gets better soon

Not a chance! I'm not one for bashing Gardai and have a lot of respect for members but ffs lads check the door number.

This sounds mad, you would think they would be well clued in to which house it was and would need to observe a suspect entering/leaving in order to get a warrant?

A pizza delivery guy maybe, but a bunch of detectives/ plain clothes? Sounds mad.

Ted111

Even at the correct address entry can't be forced unless life is in danger or there is reasonable cause evidence is being destroyed. They must knock. Permit resident to view the warrant.
Really this amounts to criminal damage via reckless negligence

Nekarsulm

There was an article in the Times a month or two back, a Polish family had been raided several times by Gardai. Looking for the previous tenant, who was gone a few years.
You might search for the article, I think they received compensation ofsome sort.

I love Sean nos

Indricotherium wrote: »

And make sure the new door has a number on It!

Mod - Joke deleted.

Member16

Cheers for all the replies,
The house is clearly numbered with the number being on the post box NEXT to the door. I'm far from a GS basher and have a lot of respect for them. It's just the fact they were hands on and also one of them laughed when my brother said it's the wrong house. It also doesn't help that my mother only moved into that house four weeks previous and then neighbors watching it being raided. Again I appreciate the replies.

GM228

http://independent.ie/irish-news/courts/50000-damages-for-woman-after-gardai-raid-the-wrong-house-26872991.html

Indricotherium

Indricotherium wrote: »

And make sure the new door has a number on It!

Why?
People should not have to put a number on their house if they don't want to

I would contact a solicitor
What damage has been done to your family's reputation?
How many people saw guards knocking down your door????

The mistake of address is unforgiveable.

The failure to knock or identify themselves is unforgiveable.

This wasn't a mistake, it was an indefensible cockup. Tell the media and make them pay. I've great respect for my local Gardai, but this is outrageous.

Silane

Mod "joke" deleted

Silane

Silane wrote: »

Mod - "jokes" delete

Mod; "joke" deleted

listermint

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mod. "jokes" deleted

I love Sean nos

Silane wrote: »

Mod. "jokes" deleted

imme

Sounds like you want money or your mother wants money OP

"What steps should we take" you ask in your last lines.

What does your mother and brother want to happen.

Will the Garda pay for damage to the door etc

imme

Deleted User wrote: »

Tell the media and make them pay. I've great respect for my local Gardai, but this is outrageous.

Pay? How

In monetary terms?

OldMrBrennan83

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Samuel T. Cogley

Mod: Comment deleted[B[/B]

Sorry OP not cricket, I can understand it's not a great time at the moment. I would speak to a solicitor if the I were you.

pilly

Patww79 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

That family were raided several times. Hardly comparable.

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Member16 wrote: »

Mod feel free to move/merge.

Can anybody give me some advice on the following. My mothers house was raided today by mistake, guards in plain clothes kicked in the door,pushed my mother and brother out of the way and ran upstairs. They then began searching an upstairs bedroom. They never once announced who they were, my mother began to take a panic attack and then they asked by brother what number house it was. He told them it was let's say 20 and they replied that they were in the wrong house and it should have been 22. What are the relevant steps we should take?

Take photos of everything. Everything. Go to your solicitor. Make a statement. Get compensation because you and your mother deserve it in this case. That's disgraceful.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

pilly

Patww79 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Apologies, thought it was the Polish family mentioned that you were referring to.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

pilly

Patww79 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Still, 50k is excessive imo

Sosurface

Mod:

Unacceptable post deleted.

Sosurface, please do not post in this thread again.

Ted111

imme wrote: »

Sounds like you want money or your mother wants money OP

Is money going to magically undo this?
I don't know.
Maybe you know, you're the only person who brought up the subject of money. This family had a bunch of strange men and women in their bedrooms there a few hours ago. Going through their stuff. Do you think that's ok? We don't need
to do anything about that? We have guards who haven't the capability to find a house, who are swearing for warrants in court then kicking doors off hinges. Who don't know or don't want to know how to execute a warrant legally. They're laughing at the ordinary descent people whose house they have smashed into.

A bit of accountability is what we want for a starters.
An alien word in this country. Mod ; insult deleted. Pls keep it civil

As a society we should aspire to putting a stop to this. I do anyway. You
can stick to accusing this family of being compo chasers. That's a reflection on you. Not them.

Member16

It's understandable how some people would think that we are seeking compensation but that's not true at all my mother is the kind of person who believes in karma. Our priorities are to get the door replaced, find out who is accountable and why it happened, an official apology would be nice and reassurance that this type of mistake doesn't happen again. And hopefully our reputation will be untarnished as they immediately left our house and went to the correct address. Thanks for all the replies

cagefactor

I would think the Irish times, daily mail, Pat Kenny and the like etc etc would love to hear about this, Mod ; insult deleted. Will escalate out of the hands of whomever you were dealing with in the gards

Atlantic Dawn

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I wouldn't be looking for 50 grand I'd be looking for 150 grand, clearly the lessons on the 50 grand cockup were not learned and a larger punishment is needed.

blackwhite

To be perfectly honest, I'd be looking for a court judgement just to publicly clear your name here.

Any award in excess of repairing the damages could always be donated to a worthy local charity

dev100

billie1b wrote:

Mistake was made, they owned up to it, admitted it, apologised and said they would update on the situation. If it was me i'd just be happy with them getting the door repaired and other damages sorted.

This could have been a cluster f situation

To be frank as reasonably law abiding citizen as I can be, can you imagine if i owned a shotgun and ran to the door with it if it was getting kicked in !!! Or if you walloped the first lad with a Hurley stick that stuck a body part thru the door. What would happen is you would get pepper sprayed and a good few wallops of a few batons. Could you imagine the parent not getting a panic attack but a heart attack ?

Does an apology seem acceptable now? Should the guards have politely but firmly knocked on door waited for a response having surrounded the house ? Unless it's a life or death situation there's no needs for kicking in someone's door

Now in real life scumbags expect their doors to be kicked in and don't really care about it , you or I would think there was someone trying to break in and do harm . You or I don't expect this to happen to us and nor should it. Normal situation you open the door the guard clearly identifies himself or herself with the warrant and whatever apparel they are wearing . You then identify yourself and your house number and the guard apologies and moves on .


I'd no time for guards, while I respect law has to be enforced an apology is cheap. The only thing you have in life is your good name and these guards have taken that away from it. My ould man always said the way to hurt someone is keep your fists down and hurt them in the pocket instead.... I'd be seeking financial redress and if I had been pushed forcefully out of the way I'd be bringing assault charges also . The law applies to everyone ....What's more worrying if they can't get the small things right what other mistakes are happening ?

Staplor

If a lad got €20k for being accused of not paying for a Jambon, 15 miles from his home, who knows what could be awarded in this case.

http://www.thejournal.ie/jambon-courts-3310881-Mar2017/

CIARAN_BOYLE

dev100 wrote: »

This could have been a cluster f situation

To be frank as reasonably law abiding citizen as I can be, can you imagine if i owned a shotgun and ran to the door with it if it was getting kicked in !!! Or if you walloped the first lad with a Hurley stick that stuck a body part thru the door. What would happen is you would get pepper sprayed and a good few wallops of a few batons. Could you imagine the parent not getting a panic attack but a heart attack ?

This is an interesting point. The Gardaì failed to identify themselves as Gardai. Presumably they would have no more protection from self defense than any violent criminal who chose to kick in a door would have.

Doesn't help the OP at all. Just an interesting thing to note.

Atlantic Dawn

OP needs to go to the media about this right now, it's time more pressure was applied to Garda management for allowing this to be able to happen.

emeldc

So who lives in number 22 then?

mrcheez

billie1b wrote: »

Mistake was made, they owned up to it, admitted it, apologised and said they would update on the situation. If it was me i'd just be happy with them getting the door repaired and other damages sorted.

Lucky it's not you then

billie1b

dev100 wrote: »

This could have been a cluster f situation

To be frank as reasonably law abiding citizen as I can be, can you imagine if i owned a shotgun and ran to the door with it if it was getting kicked in !!! Or if you walloped the first lad with a Hurley stick that stuck a body part thru the door. What would happen is you would get pepper sprayed and a good few wallops of a few batons. Could you imagine the parent not getting a panic attack but a heart attack ?

Does an apology seem acceptable now? Should the guards have politely but firmly knocked on door waited for a response having surrounded the house ? Unless it's a life or death situation there's no needs for kicking in someone's door

Now in real life scumbags expect their doors to be kicked in and don't really care about it , you or I would think there was someone trying to break in and do harm . You or I don't expect this to happen to us and nor should it. Normal situation you open the door the guard clearly identifies himself or herself with the warrant and whatever apparel they are wearing . You then identify yourself and your house number and the guard apologies and moves on .


I'd no time for guards, while I respect law has to be enforced an apology is cheap. The only thing you have in life is your good name and these guards have taken that away from it. My ould man always said the way to hurt someone is keep your fists down and hurt them in the pocket instead.... I'd be seeking financial redress and if I had been pushed forcefully out of the way I'd be bringing assault charges also . The law applies to everyone ....What's more worrying if they can't get the small things right what other mistakes are happening ?

Very true, after reading the rest of the thread this morning my mind is swaying in the direction of a solicitor, I was just thinking if it was my mother an apology would not be enough.

Little CuChulainn

Member16 wrote: »

It's understandable how some people would think that we are seeking compensation but that's not true at all my mother is the kind of person who believes in karma. Our priorities are to get the door replaced, find out who is accountable and why it happened, an official apology would be nice and reassurance that this type of mistake doesn't happen again. And hopefully our reputation will be untarnished as they immediately left our house and went to the correct address. Thanks for all the replies

If all you want is the door replaced and an apology then the Chief Superintendent would be the best person to contact. Send them a letter with the details of the incident and the invoice for any damage done. If you want compensation beyond what was damaged you will need a solicitor.

2 stroke

My first thoughts. Do you need to get out of that house. Who are your neighbours in 22. If your family has purchased the house, was there full disclosure, can you track down the previous occupant an find out why they left.

Second thoughts. Contact a solicitor.

Third thought. Another example of Gardai not being good with numbers.

Ongo Goblogian

If as others have stated that the warrant was not executed in the correct legal manner, how valid would it have been if they did get the correct address and evidence was found and needed to be presented in court. Surly the defence could claim that it should be disregarded because it was not legally seized or something.

Having done jury duty on a murder case, I can say from first hand experience that some jury members hold the guards in contempt and any excuse such as an illegally served warrant is enough to change murder to manslaughter or possibly even less.

Every warrant should be served in the correct manner by the guards. It appears that the sweeny approach and lack of due diligence used in this instance was wrong on several levels. An apology from the local super will not undo the damage to the OP's mothers reputation as I am sure she is now the talk of all the gossips on the street and speculation on what she or the OP's siblings may be up to.

A very public apology or a significant financial reimbursement is the only options I would be looking for. Contact a solicitor, but make sure that you and your siblings are squeaky clean in regards to being Law Abiding Citizens as these things seem to bring extra scrutiny from the guards who get their wrists slapped.

Nekarsulm

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

This is an interesting point. The Gardaì failed to identify themselves as Gardai. Presumably they would have no more protection from self defense than any violent criminal who chose to kick in a door would have.

Doesn't help the OP at all. Just an interesting thing to note.

You would have no way to prove that the Gardai did not identify themselves. Your word against a half a dozen Gardai.
How would you see that panning out, as you stand in the dock accused of braining a Garda with a golf club?

Little CuChulainn

Ongo Goblogian wrote: »

If as others have stated that the warrant was not executed in the correct legal manner, how valid would it have been if they did get the correct address and evidence was found and needed to be presented in court. Surly the defence could claim that it should be disregarded because it was not legally seized or something.

Having done jury duty on a murder case, I can say from first hand experience that some jury members hold the guards in contempt and any excuse such as an illegally served warrant is enough to change murder to manslaughter or possibly even less.

Every warrant should be served in the correct manner by the guards. It appears that the sweeny approach and lack of due diligence used in this instance was wrong on several levels. An apology from the local super will not undo the damage to the OP's mothers reputation as I am sure she is now the talk of all the gossips on the street and speculation on what she or the OP's siblings may be up to.

A very public apology or a significant financial reimbursement is the only options I would be looking for. Contact a solicitor, but make sure that you and your siblings are squeaky clean in regards to being Law Abiding Citizens as these things seem to bring extra scrutiny from the guards who get their wrists slapped.

The jury don't decide if a warrant is served correctly or not. The judge does.

pilly

The amount of people here suggesting that OP milk it is disgusting. Okay, it was a traumatic experience but not life changing.

Ongo Goblogian

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

The jury don't decide if a warrant is served correctly or not. The judge does.

But if the defence makes an implication, some jury members can be swayed. As stated I have first hand experience of this. The jury I was on was removed on four separate occasions because of things the defence brought up. I know when we were out of the court, the judge gave the defence a bollocking, but they kept at it and got an obvious murder reduced to manslaughter.

hullaballoo

Moderator: This isn't legal discussion anymore. Thread closed.

OP, the best advice is to speak to a solicitor who can deal with this on your behalf whatever way you choose, whether that's just a replacement door or more meaningful relief.