Scumbag sues Garda

armadadaze wrote: »

Jeez it's getting to be like Jerry Springer here!

I'm just waiting for some-one to say 'give 'em the chair'

dvpower wrote: »

The only posters here assuming he is guilty are the ones who think its a good idea for the gardai to beat up criminals.

including ban gardaí it seems.

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

Exactly and that's why I made the point. I think the perception is the only the reason anyone's defending the Garda is because of the presumed social standing of the criminal.

But that has nothing to do with it, for me anyway.

+1

thebullkf wrote: »

seriously... what age are you

I cant believe you reported someone calling you a plonker and then have the stones to say that!!

I don't know if this is a jury trial but if I was a juror I wouldn't be convicting this guard. But then I wouldn't get picked as a juror because the defence would object when I turned up without a tracksuit.

I recently at a talk on Saturday, where a member of the Civil court service said that video evidence can be displayed in court especially at the Criminal Court and said while showing off the Court Room Technology, that the DPP and the Gardai shown a car which was used on alleged crime can be easily track within Dublin city centre within the bounds from one Canal to the other canal and the Gardai quickly used the video technology to show their point without wasting a day or two later costing Tax payers money.

If this is True then the alleged event of gardai beating can be shown on CCTV footage, especially at the Quays.

I am for one adding car protected Black box Technology recording GPS, car speed and other safety reading such as ABS activation and record all drivers actions such as pedal manipulation, hard acceleration/braking etc. Also have minimum of three cameras, Internal at rear mirror (visible of everybody within the car), front and back car views camera recording 24hours of driving worth of footage. This will remove all doubt about actual event especially stolen cars and what really happened at accidents, who was driving and to be only used only in Court via a warrant or by accident investigators. Blackbox to be check within NCT for functionality and any failure of it to immediately fail the Test.
I prefer Blackbox Technology as people always lie to others or to themselves through self denial. It should be used to determine a person ability to drive safely on our roads.

elviscostello wrote: »

AudreyHepburn, I really don't mean to single you out (even though I have) but it is very frustrating when you ignore questions! Bearing in mind what I just wrote above (and that I hope none of this ever happened) do you really think that batons and boots should be needed for ten trained Gardaí to restrain a (violent/drugged up/aggressive/dangerous) scummer?

I'm ignoring nothing as you well know. I just haven't gotten around to answering yet.

No it shouldn't have been necessary (the boots not all, the batons are a different story) but as I said I have seen people drunk and drugged and sometimes you have no choice but to use force to restrain them for both their own and other's safety. ha

Bear in mind that there was two men in the car both heavily under the influence so two or three gardai probably wouldn't have been enough especially as at least of the men was armed.

I wonder if this evidence will change anything.

You'd be surprised how much cctv evidence is found to be inadmissable in court because the quality isn't clear enough.

Strange way of phrasing it.
'Jury will see footage of the scene of the arrest', as opposed to 'jury will see footage of the arrest'.

Could be just the Times trying to flower the prose up, or else the CCTV footage is just after-the-incident stuff which won't be that important.

From todays examiner

A garda accused of beating a suspect following a high-speed chase used justified force according to colleagues who gave evidence at his trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Several gardai told the jury that they saw the accused hit the suspect repeatedly with his baton but claimed this was not excessive as the suspect was “kicking violently”.

Garda Gerard Curtis (aged 23) of Ardee, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty to assault and assault causing harm of Mr John Paul Maughan (aged 19) on Alexandra Road in the Dublin docklands on July 11, 2009. Mr Maughan was a passenger in a stolen car and was allegedly assaulted following a high-speed chase through the city-centre.

The jury was also shown CCTV footage of Mr Maughan’s capture. They were told the footage shows the lead-up to the arrest of Mr Maughan after he was pulled from the stolen car.

Garda Niamh Galligan, who was stationed at Store Street with Garda Curtis, told prosecuting counsel, Mr Maurice Coffey BL, that she was in a patrol car with him when they got a call about a suspected car theft at knifepoint.

They joined the chase and were first on the scene when the stolen car crashed near the water on Alexandra Road. She said Gda Curtis engaged with Mr Maughan and she agreed that the CCTV footage shows him striking the suspect with a baton.

"He used the correct amount of force as Mr Maughan was kicking out and being violent,” she told Mr Breffni Gordon BL, defending. “He (Mr Maughan) could have gone mad and you wouldn’t know what would happen.”

When Gda Galligan repeated that her colleague had not used excessive force, Judge Donagh McDonagh asked her: “Does that include putting in the boot?”

Gda Galligan replied that she had not seen that happen. Judge McDonagh then told the jury to disregard his question.

The garda told Mr Gordon that she had come across Mr Maughan several times in the city centre and said he had always been abusive to gardaí.She called Gda Curtis “a colleague and a friend” who she was standing by but said she was giving her professional opinion in court.

Another garda who arrived on the scene also said Mr Maughan was acting violently enough for the accused to strike him with his baton. Garda PJ Gallagher said Mr Maughan was on the ground but his feet were in the air and was kicking violently.

He said Gda Curtis hit him “two or three times” on the legs. He said then he went over to them and Mr Maughan was about to spit at them when they turned him over on his stomach and handcuffed him.Gda Gallagher said Mr Maughan continued to act aggressively and was making threats to gardaí, including threatening to bite Gda Gallagher’s nose off.

Garda Marion Harmon told Mr Coffey that she was in a chasing garda car with three other members. She said herself and her colleagues were “terrified” as they chased the stolen car.

When the stolen car crashed she said she saw Mr Maughan being taken out of the car. She said he was kicking violently and Gda Curtis hit him “four or five times” with his baton. She said she attempted to grab Mr Maughan’s legs to prevent him from kicking Gda Curtis but stopped because she was afraid of getting kicked in the head. She added that the used of force was “absolutely necessary.”“Gda Curtis was only protecting us, himself and everyone else there,” she told Mr Coffey. The trial continues before Judge McDonagh and a jury of nine women and three men.</p>

Glad we have the info now, even though it was a chore to read.

Also glad with the outcome of the case, despite my belief that it should not have come this far already.

Johnny Utah wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Funny that, Gardai seem to suffer from either terrible memory loss or poor powers of observation when they're put on the stand in cases like this.

Remember the Mayday inquiry- every single Guard was unable to identify their colleagues from the video footage..... :rolleyes:


How do these Guards pass the entrance exam with such poor memory and observation skills?

yet she knows the

.“He used the correct amount of force

unlike the drive to the scene where..

She said herself and her colleagues were “terrified” as they chased the stolen car.

were they all screaming???:rolleyes:


ah well- garda stick up for garda, its a fact of life.

the real tragedy is when innocent people get hidings and the process repeats itself.