A garda whose nose was broken by a colleague who punched him during after-hours drinking in Ryan's Bar in Dublin's Lower Camden Street nearly three years age was almost equally to blame for what happened, a judge has decided.
Garda Denis Lordan, who had sued his Lucan Garda Station colleague Garda Ronan O’Shaughnessy for €60,000 damages for assault, was awarded just over €13,000 against Mr O'Shaughnessy which Judge Michael Walsh then cut to €8,000 on the basis Mr Lordan had been 40% to blame for the incident.
Judge Walsh said it appeared the two men had consumed "an extraordinary amount of alcohol" when they and other unit colleagues from Lucan Garda Station had gone out for evening drinks after work in March 2022 and after midnight had moved on from Cassidy's Pub to the nearby Ryan's Bar.
The judge, who stated the incident involving a closely knit garda unit should never have reached court, told barrister Matthew Jolley, who appeared for Mr Lordan, that he did not think the assault should attract extra aggravated damages.
Mr Jolley, who appeared with W and E Bradshaw Solicitors, told the court his client had not only suffered pain and trauma but had been left with a permanent, although minor, disfigurement as his nose could not be completely straightened without significant further surgery.
The gardaí involved in the night out are all still colleagues at Lucan Garda Station but some have switched units in order not to have to work on same shifts.
Judge Walsh said an incident involving Garda O'Shaughnessy’s girlfriend, Garda Aisling Walsh, had taken place in Cassidy's and later Mr O'Shaughnessy told Mr Lordan he should not be advising him with regard to his relationship with Ms Walsh and had panicked and lashed out wildly when Mr Lordan allegedly attempted to throttle him.
Judge Walsh said he accepted the evidence of Garda Fiachra Whelan who, when buying a drink in Ryan's had seen Mr Lordan towering over Mr O'Shaughnessy at the bar and addressing him in an aggressive manner.
The judge said he would award Garda Lordan damages of €13,385 but considered he was 40% responsible for contributory negligence at the time and reduced the figure to €8,031. He awarded Mr Lordan District Court costs against Mr O'Shaughnessy.
A garda kept a watching brief in order to report back to garda authorities about evidence that had been presented to the court.
It was learned afterwards that garda authorities had not been aware of the after-hours drinking incident or assault until gardaí had applied for time off to attend court following the service of summonses on garda witnesses.
