Two sisters who claimed they were subjected to a vicious and unprovoked assault by gardaí on Dublin's Grafton Street received an apology and undisclosed damages at the High Court yesterday.
While walking with friends up Grafton Street at about 1.30 a.m. on April 25th, 1998, Gráinne and Ciara Walsh claimed they were assaulted after Gráinne sought to prevent an unmarked Garda car reversing into them. They claimed they were thrown forcefully into the back of a Garda van, assaulted, brought to a Garda station and detained in locked cells before being released without charge. They alleged that gardaí then brought a malicious prosecution against them, which was subsequently dismissed by the District Court.
Gráinne (34), a freelance fashion designer, of Delwood Lawn, Castleknock, and Ciara (33), who is currently working as a fashion designer in New York, had sued the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice and the State over the incident.
Their cases were listed for yesterday, but Ms Siun Leonowicz and Mr John Quirke, for both women, told the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, that the actions had been settled. Both counsel told the court the defendants had said they "regret very much what had happened" and had acknowledged that both women were of "unblemished character". A sum of money had been paid in settlement of both cases, the judge was also told.
Mr Justice Finnegan said he was noting what was said and struck out the proceedings with an order for costs to both women.
In their actions, the women claimed that they and some friends were walking up Grafton Street towards St Stephen's Green when an unmarked Garda car reversed down Grafton Street in their direction. Gráinne claimed that she and a friend were in the path of the car and she said she had banged on the boot to alert the gardaí to their presence, as she believed they were in peril.
The women claimed a garda immediately alighted from the car and was aggressive and enraged. They claimed he grabbed hold of Gráinne violently and that she was pushed into the back of a Garda van which was nearby. Ciara said that when she sought to intervene she was arrested, pushed, shaken violently and also thrown forcefully into the van.
Gráinne claimed that during the journey in the van she was held by the back of the head and the hair and her arms were pulled downwards while a garda knelt on her back. She claimed that the garda would not leave her alone and continuously shifted her, shook her, lifted her up by the hair and banged her down again.
She claimed that when the van stopped the garda took his weight off her, stood up and lifted her to her feet. She claimed that he stood her in front of the closed side door, put one hand on her head and, as the door opened, pushed her head forward suddenly as he let go of her wrists, ensuring that she had no chance of using her feet to step down from the van. She alleged that she fell head-first to the ground and landed on her chin.
She claimed that she was not allowed or helped to stand up and that she was pulled by the arms on her knees, when she ripped her trousers, through the doorway into the station. She claimed that she banged her head and body several times during this journey.
Gráinne claimed that she suffered extreme trauma and upset during the incident and sustained a number of injuries, including abrasions and bruises. Her confidence and faith in the gardaí had been totally undermined. She took proceedings for assault, battery and wrongful imprisonment.
Ciara claimed that she was forcefully restrained when she sought to prevent her sister being assaulted and again in the Garda station. She was detained in the Garda station and was also later released without charge. She also took proceedings for assault, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. She claimed that she suffered personal injury, anxiety, distress and upset and grievous damage to her reputation.
Both women claimed that their ordeal was compounded through the gardaí taking District Court proceedings against them alleging assault of two gardaí and certain public order offences, including using or engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour and being allegedly intoxicated in a public place to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that they might endanger themselves or others. Those proceedings were dismissed by the District Court after a full-day hearing in March 1999.
In their defence, the defendants denied that the women were behaving lawfully on Grafton Street on April 25th 1998 and denied the allegations of assault and unlawful detention. They also denied initiating malicious prosecution of the two women and further denied that the women had suffered any injury or trauma.