A garda has been convicted of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago.
32-year-old Lorcan Murphy of Pearse Street Garda Station had pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault causing harm to a 17-year-old at Essex Street in Dublin 2 and at the garda station in June 2021.
The incident that led to this conviction took place on the evening of 1 June, 2021, while Covid-19 restrictions were in place. These restrictions allowed limited gatherings outdoors.
Some teenagers were gathered in an area around Essex Street and the court was told they were approached by two gardaí.
Prosecuting counsel, John Gallagher told the jury an issue in the case was whether the level of force used by Garda Lorcan Murphy in his interactions with a 17-year-old boy was reasonable.
The court heard no issue was taken with the boy's initial arrest. But Mr Gallagher said Garda Murphy swept the boy’s legs from under him while he was handcuffed and brought him to the ground. The boy hit his head on the ground and was later transferred to Beaumont Hospital where he stayed for five days receiving treatment for a fractured skull.
Garda Murphy was also convicted of a second assault on the boy at Pearse Street Garda Station by pulling him back by his hair and applying force to his chest.
In his statements the garda said he performed a "leg sweep" on the boy after the boy had refused to take his hands out of his pockets and had produced a glass bottle.
A crowd had gathered and the boy was also spitting towards Garda Murphy who said he felt unsafe, both for his own personal safety and the safety of the boy.
The jury was told there must be a legitimate use of force or reasonable force. Mr Gallagher said gardaí had a very difficult job but were subject to the same laws about the use of force as everyone else.
The prosecution case was that the level of force used in this case was not reasonable.
In his evidence, the victim in the case said he could not recall the events. He said he had been drinking and smoking weed that day. The court heard he has 44 previous convictions, but Garda Murphy did not know him at the time of the assaults.
Ten days after the incident in Temple Bar, the court heard the boy allegedly kicked and beat a person after they had withdrawn money from an ATM on O’Connell Street. He told the court he had never been charged with any offences in relation to what happened on 1 June, 2021.
He said he had resisted arrest in the past but told the court he did not on this occasion.
An eye witness who was in the area told the court the boy seemed out of it and was "spear tackled" by Garda Murphy.
He said the boy went "limp and lifeless". Another eye witness said it was like they "flipped him in a sudden manner, and bashed his head off the ground". Both eye witnesses had heard references to a knife during the incident.
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Defence counsel, Justin McQuade, told the court that society may have "lost some sight on what people in uniform do for us".
He said people in uniform are "expected, not invited to step forward". And he said an issue for the jury was "honest belief" even if it was mistaken in the heat of the moment.
He suggested that if gardaí were going to be criminalised for using force they may be slower to use it in the future, and that benefitted no one. He said force was necessary in society to protect citizens from those with criminal intent.
The jurors took four hours and 20 minutes to return unanimous guilty verdicts on both counts.
There was silence in the court after the jury delivered its verdicts.
Judge Pauline Codd ordered a probation report and a victim impact statement will also be sought.
Lorcan Murphy was remanded on continuing bail until 3 November.
