The High Court awarded a garda €85,444.13 in compensation after finding that a violent sexual assault during an attempted arrest had left a lasting mark on her personality.
In a judgment delivered on 24 April 2015, Mr Justice Bernard J Barton awarded €50,000 for pain and suffering to date, €35,000 for future pain and suffering and €444.13 in agreed special damages. The case was brought under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts 1941 and 1945, after the garda was authorised to bring proceedings in September 2013.
The assault happened on Upper Bridge Street, Killorglin, Co Kerry, on 13 August 2008. The garda was on duty and trying to arrest a man for a public order offence. The judgment says he grabbed and squeezed her genital area through her trousers and tried to push his fingers into her vaginal area. As she struggled to free herself, she was dragged and wedged against a door. After releasing her, the man squeezed her wrist. His wife then repeatedly struck the garda on the back and head. The arrest was completed, and the man was charged with several offences, including sexual assault.
The garda suffered physical injuries and psychological harm. Her physical injuries resolved over several weeks. Medical evidence described post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms following the assault. She received counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy. The judgment records that those illnesses later resolved, although some avoidance behaviour remained.
The court also heard that the assault affected her work and personal life. She feared being assigned duties in Killorglin and returned to work after receiving assurances about her assignments. She gave evidence that the effects on her confidence and personality continued. The judgment says she was acquitted in a later sexual assault trial; she described being distressed by giving evidence and feeling let down by the system. The respondent argued that the consequences of the unsuccessful trial should not be attributed to it in law.
Justice Barton concluded that the lasting psychological and personality effects arose directly from the assault. He considered that having to go through the trial and its lasting impact flowed from the assault, while distinguishing the additional anger she felt after the acquittal. The court found that her psychiatric illnesses had resolved but that the assault had left what appeared to be a permanent mark on her. It ordered the stated damages award.