A Dublin man whose arm was broken after he was arrested by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit on his return from Northern Ireland after buying fireworks has been awarded €40,000 by the High Court.
The court ruled that gardai had used "excessive force" in the incident.
Joseph Maher (30) Landen Road, Ballyfermot sued the Minister for Justice, Ireland and the State over an incident near the Blanchardstown Exit on the M50 motorway on October 7 th, 2002.
He claimed gardaí had committed assault and battery upon him.
The defendants had denied the claims and alleged Mr Maher was arrested after they were informed that an attempt was being made by dissident Republicans to move explosives south of the Border.
They said Mr Maher's car and another car, which was owned by member of the 'Real' IRA and driven by "a dangerous criminal", were under surveillance at the time.
Mr Maher had denied knowledge of such matters.
Mr Justice John Quirke awarded damages to Mr Maher after finding that the level of force used by the gardai in the course of detaining him was "excessive" and breached his constitutional right to bodily integrity.
The court heard that Mr Maher, an unemployed father of one, had borrowed a pick up van to buy fireworks in the North and sell them in the Republic.
A number of other individuals, travelling in a Ford Focus, were involved in the venture and Mr Maher drove behind their car to the Border. The court heard the Ford was owned by a 'Real' IRA member from Strabane and was being driven by "an extremely dangerous and violent criminal".
Mr Maher claimed that, around 10pm on the night in question, the pick up he was driving was driven off the M50 motorway by a Garda vehicle and that armed gardaí ordered him from his car and told him to put his hands in the air.
Mr Maher said he complied but claimed a gun was put to his head. He also claimed he was struck twice on the back of the head with a weapon, also struck on the arm and, while on the ground, a garda held his face down with his foot.
Mr Maher suffered a laceration to the back of his head and suffered a broken arm.
Gardaí claimed that Mr Maher tried to flee the scene after being stopped by armed officers. They further claimed that he sustained a minor cut to his head in the course of resisting arrest by a garda who used no more force than was reasonable in the circumstances.
Mr Justice Quirke said the level of force used by gardaí to apprehend a suspect must be reasonable and in this case the level of force applied "was not warranted."