Gardaí

no88y

Hi all,

Just had a run in with a garda not in uniform but he a had a high viz vest on that had garda written on it, there was a traffic accident in my small town and I had to pass it to gwt my son from school.

The "run in" happened when the plain clothes garda requested for me to move back out of the way for oncoming traffic to pass, when I said I couldn't the garda then started getting very aggressive and demanding for my license and documents, I told him that I'm only trying to get my 4 year old son from school and that I could easily pass as the whole road was open... he then proceeded to snatch my keys from my vehicle to which I grabbed his arm to stop him from stealing my property! A shouting match ensued and and he said I had 10 days to produce my documents...

I suppose what I'm asking is, did he have the right to take my keys from my vehicle and was I in the wrong for standing firm in what I believe my rights are?

Thanks in advance.

Daniel.

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058302467/gardai

Mod: Moved to Legal Discussion from the Help Desk.

-Shield

BattleCorp

You are in the wrong if you grabbed a Garda by the arm. It's possible that you could be charged with assault. That said, that would be unlikely to happen if you produce your documents within the required timeframe and don't get in any further arguments with the Gardai.

Str8outtaWuhan

How did you know he was a Garda if not in uniform, anyone could buy a hiviz jacket? Also if he snatched the keys that means he entered your vehicle without consent and without establishing reasonable grounds? A "snatch" could be construed as an act of violence by a decent solicitor.

L1011

You have to obey the directions of a Garda in traffic matters, and he probably should have prosecuted for you assault for grabbing his arm.

Produce the documents, do not even mention why and hope you never hear of this again - and act like an actual adult in future interactions.

feelings

As most posters are probably wondering, why couldn't you back up??

amdublin

Omg why did you not just back up as he asked? The guards are there to make sure the roads are safe and secure it after an accident. Numpties like yourself not listening to them are not helping the situation

embracingLife

All the guard a$$ kissers on here!

Op you definitely have a grievance here with the way the p1g behaved towards you, especially as he grabbed your car keys, that was ott.

You should phone the garda station in your town and ask to talk to the superintendent and give them politely a piece of your mind. Explain yourself and how when he grabbed your keys it was such a shock to you, your immediate instinct was to prevent anyone including this numpty from grabbing your keys was second nature to you. You could instead get onto GSOC about it, why not? Give him a dose of his own medicine,probably nothing will happen due to it but you can still contact them over it.

As he wasn't wearing the full uniform and instead was plain clothes with only the hi vis gard coat it's obvious he wasn't used to dealing with the public, mostly used to getting in people's faces etc. He definitely could have handled it better than that.

Who's the know it all calling you a numpty? As if the gards are saints and can't be questioned.

Moderator: embracingLife was warned for this.