An admission of liability by the State in an action for damages by Frank McBrearty jnr arising from his wrongful treatment at the hands of some gardaí in Co Donegal is "so conditional" in some respects that it "reads like a chapter from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake", the High Court was told yesterday.
Martin Giblin SC, for Mr McBrearty, also rejected a claim by George Birmingham SC, for the State, that the amount of special damages being sought by Mr McBrearty in relation to lost value of his home and family business arising from the conduct of gardaí had risen in recent weeks from a figure of €680,000 to a possible figure of more than €8 million.
Special damages are just one category in a claim for damages which also includes a claim for aggravated damages.
Mr Giblin said the special damages claim was nowhere near the figure suggested by Mr Birmingham. When asked by the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, how much was being sought by Mr McBrearty in special damages, he said he did not have those figures to hand.
Mr Birmingham said that in the action, the State would concede as fact the findings of the Morris tribunal and it accepted Mr McBrearty was entitled to compensation. However, it was entitled to examine aspects of the claim for damages and needed additional time to do so in light of fresh reports received on June 14th from experts for the McBrearty side.
At the request of Mr Birmingham, Mr Justice Finnegan yesterday agreed to adjourn the hearing in order to allow the State to have its accountants and valuers assess the special damages claims being advanced. The hearing had been due to proceed today.
The judge said he could not at this stage fix a new date for hearing but he expected a date would be obtained sometime in July. In the interim, he asked the parties to have their experts address a number of matters and listed the case for mention on Friday for case management purposes. He also wanted a realistic assessment of how long the case would take.
Mr McBrearty was arrested in December 1996 on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Co Donegal man Richie Barron. He was never charged. In its second report, the Morris tribunal held Mr Barron died as a result of a hit-and-run accident in Raphoe and criticised the treatment of Mr McBrearty and his family.
Mr McBrearty is suing the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice, Ireland and the Attorney General for damages for unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, assault and battery.
He claims he was wrongfully arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Mr Barron and detained. There was no bona fide suspicion to justify his arrest and detention which was actuated by malice, it is pleaded.
At Letterkenny Garda station, he claims he was terrorised and assaulted for the purpose of obtaining a confession and an admission in relation to the alleged murder of Mr Barron in which he had no involvement, liability or knowledge. He claims he was also arrested and assaulted by gardaí after he complained about his treatment on a later date. He claims the assaults and "terror tactics" caused him severe upset, distress, shock and psychiatric illness.
In seeking the adjournment for a week of the action, Mr Birmingham yesterday said the State had received fresh reports from Mr McBrearty's side which indicated that the claim for special damages, which had been for a figure of some €680,000 could now rise to over €8 million.
His side needed time to have their accountants and valuers assess and report on those additional claims.
Mr Justice Finnegan said he would grant the adjournment and asked the parties to agree a list of witnesses and made directions regarding the presentation of documents to the court.