The Supreme Court ruled that the 1991 arrest of Limerick garda Anselm Walshe was lawful, overturning a High Court ruling and setting aside his €175,000 damages award. It dismissed the appeal concerning Kay Bedford, leaving in place the finding that her arrest was unlawful and her €100,000 award.
Both were arrested in Limerick on 27 September 1991 under section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939, on suspicion of IRA membership. They were questioned in Dublin and released without charge after about 40 hours. The State and the investigating officer accepted that neither was an IRA member.
The High Court had ruled that the arrests were unlawful because the arresting officers lacked the required suspicion. A jury then awarded Walshe €175,000 and Bedford €100,000. The State appealed the findings and awards, arguing the arrests were lawful and the damages excessive. A separate appeal over the State’s liability for the investigating officer’s own legal costs was deferred by consent pending the main appeal.
In Walshe’s case, the Supreme Court said the arresting officer, Detective Inspector Anthony Fennessy, had seen a confidential intelligence document known as a C77 before a superior directed him to make the arrest. Evidence described the document as naming Walshe as suspected of associating with an IRA member and passing information about Garda operations. The court held that the information described in evidence, considered with the direction to arrest, was enough to support the required suspicion. It said it did not need to decide whether either factor would have been sufficient on its own.
The court distinguished Bedford’s case. Her arresting officer, Sergeant O’Shea, had not seen the C77. His general statements that Bedford’s name had arisen during inquiries and that he believed she associated with IRA members lacked detail or corroboration, the court said. The appeal in her case was dismissed, and the court considered her damages award not excessive.
The decision concerns the legality of the arrests and the damages awards. Walshe’s arrest was declared lawful on appeal; Bedford’s unlawful-arrest finding and award remained in place. The judgment does not determine the deferred costs appeal.