The High Court assessed compensation for a Garda injured during a 1998 assault in Salthill at €105,000 for pain and suffering, but was not satisfied that his retirement was caused by ill health linked to the assault.
In a judgment delivered on 30 May 2016, Mr Justice Bernard J. Barton found that Michael Conroy suffered soft tissue injuries to his left leg and knee, as well as a lower back injury superimposed on pre-existing degenerative changes. The assault made those spinal changes symptomatic and, on the balance of probabilities, aggravated them and accelerated their progression.
The court awarded €75,000 for pain and suffering to the date of judgment and a further €30,000 for future pain and suffering. It also said it would allow special damages incurred to date insofar as they were attributable to the assault. The amount remained to be discussed with counsel, and the judge said the parties’ agreement on that part of the claim appeared to cover only the period up to 2001. The judgment did not set out a final order or the special-damages figure.
The assault happened on 21 February 1998, during a motor rally weekend. The judgment recounts that Conroy was escorting a prisoner to a patrol car when members of a hostile crowd attacked him from behind. He described being kicked around the left knee and thrown or pushed onto the car bonnet. The court accepted that he landed heavily on the bonnet.
The judge accepted that Conroy had been asymptomatic in his lower back at the time, although degenerative changes were already established. The court considered that those changes would probably have become symptomatic over time even without the assault, but found the assault had aggravated them and brought symptoms forward. Conroy continued to report chronic back pain, with pain radiating into his legs. The court also found that he suffered significant psychological effects, which had improved but would require support and medication for the foreseeable future.
Conroy sought loss of earnings following his retirement from the Gardaí in 2009. He said his physical and psychological problems meant he could no longer perform his duties and that he had intended to serve until 60. The court was not satisfied that he had proved retirement was due to ill health attributable to the assault. It found he had retired voluntarily on the basis of age and years served, noting that he had not pursued a medical examination for ill-health retirement or investigated the financial implications of his options.
The judge said the form of the final orders would be discussed with counsel.