The Court of Appeal has increased an award of damages to Darius Savickis arising from events at Castlerea Prison from €225 to €17,225, while upholding a jury finding concerning his transfer between prison cells while naked.
Ms Justice Irvine agreed with a separate judgment of Mr Justice Hogan that Savickis should receive €10,000 in damages, with no reduction for contributory negligence, together with €5,000 exemplary damages for breach of his constitutional rights arising from an assault. A further negligence award of €4,500 was subject to a 50% reduction for contributory negligence, producing another €2,250.
Her judgment dealt specifically with a separate issue put to the jury: whether the prison authorities had failed in their duty to treat Savickis with appropriate dignity when he was moved from a padded cell to another cell in a state of undress.
Savickis accepted that his clothing had been removed when he entered the padded cell and that he had been given a blanket. He denied being offered a poncho, described in evidence as a “Jesus blanket”.
Prison officers gave a different account. Officer Dunne said Savickis had been given both a blanket and a poncho, had refused to wear the poncho and displaced the blanket placed over him. Evidence was also given that he remained non-compliant and that forcing the poncho onto him would have been difficult and unsafe.
The court stressed that an appeal court does not retry disputed facts decided by a jury. Its task was only to determine whether credible evidence supported the jury’s conclusion.
Ms Justice Irvine found that it did. She also noted evidence that prison staff cleared the transfer route of female staff and other prisoners before Savickis was moved.
Although she described moving a naked prisoner through prison areas as concerning and potentially capable of breaching constitutional rights in another case, she upheld the jury’s finding on this particular issue.
The overall damages award was therefore increased to €17,225.