The High Court has awarded Garda Shane Gray €90,813 for injuries suffered during a violent assault while carrying out a bail check in February 2021.
The Commissioner of An Garda Síochána accepted that Garda Gray was assaulted in a malicious incident while on duty on 17 February 2021 and that he suffered injuries as a result. The dispute before Ms Justice Emily Farrell concerned the amount of compensation.
Garda Gray and a colleague had entered a private residence when the assailant spat at the other Garda and then attacked both officers. Garda Gray told the court he was kicked, punched, bitten and scratched during a struggle lasting about ten minutes. He said knives were visible nearby and that the assailant threatened to kill both Gardaí and claimed he would infect them with Covid-19.
The assailant later pleaded guilty to assaulting the two Gardaí and received a three-year prison sentence.
Garda Gray attended Cork University Hospital that evening and subsequently developed significant psychological and physical symptoms. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, experienced panic attacks and sleep disturbance, and remained off work for a year. Although he later returned to normal Garda duties, the court found that anxiety continued to affect him when attending potentially violent incidents.
He also suffered persistent lower-back pain radiating into his legs and an ongoing right shoulder injury. The judge valued his psychological injury at €45,000, his back injury at €40,000, his shoulder injury at €16,000 and additional minor injuries at €5,000. Rather than simply adding those figures, the court applied a €20,000 reduction to reflect overlapping effects and fixed general damages at €86,000.
The Commissioner had questioned whether Garda Gray failed to mitigate his psychological injuries by stopping medication and not pursuing more counselling. The court ruled that failure to mitigate had not been pleaded or notified before trial and, in any event, was not established on the evidence.
With €3,813 agreed past special damages and €1,000 for future counselling, judgment was entered for €90,813.