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A FORMER MEMBER of the Garda drugs squad, who was repeatedly stabbed and seriously injured while carrying out an arrest, was today awarded what is believed to be a record €1.1 million damages in the High Court.
Mr Justice Bernard Barton, in handing down his reserved judgment, told barrister Paul O’Neill, counsel for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, that Garda Daryl Mullen had suffered serious physical injuries.
The judge said the 38-year-old former garda had suffered a vicious assault and battery seven years ago while on duty in James Street, Westport, County Mayo.
Judge Barton, in a Garda Compensation case, said he was awarding Mr Mullen €1,093,179. He told Eoin McCullough SC, who appeared with barrister Pat Purcell for Mullen, he was awarding €400,000 general damages, €300,000 special damages, and €348,179 for loss of earnings, pension and gratuity.
Record
Liam Guidera, of Mason Hayes Curran solicitors for Mr Mullen, said after the judgment he believed the award was a record one in the area of Garda compensation.
Judge Barton said that in August 2009 the then 32-year-old garda was on plain clothes duty with a unit of the drugs squad during a street festival in Westport.
He and his colleagues had been carrying out searches for illicit drugs and as he confronted a group acting suspiciously, one of them produced a knife “which he drove into the left side of Garda Mullen’s abdomen.”
Judge Barton said the assailant, who had later been charged and jailed, had repeatedly stabbed Garda Mullen causing what he described as “horrific internal injuries.”
He bled profusely and was rushed to the operating theatre of Mayo General Hospital where he had undergone emergency major surgery. Afterwards he had been in the intensive care unit for a week.
He had suffered serious injuries to his groin, stomach and lungs and later developed MRSA during ongoing treatment in University College Hospital, Galway. He had suffered serious pain.
Psychological effects
Judge Barton said that in 2011 Garda Mullen, now married with a family, had been certified fit to return to light duties. He was assigned as a detective garda but his hopes of gradual improvement of his symptoms and continuation of service as a garda detective were not to be realised.
Garda Mullen, following further surgery, had suffered devastating psychological consequences and never again obtained a fitness certificate to return to work. He was discharged from the force on the grounds of ill health.
Following the release from prison of his assailant to the Westport/Castlebar area, Mr Mullen and his wife and family moved homes.
The judge said Mr Mullen, apart from pain-killing medication including injection therapy, continued to receive counselling and antidepressant medication.
“In this regard his evidence was that he sees no end to these problems, nor any future for himself,” Judge Barton said.
“Although he can drive short journeys he has become socially withdrawn, remaining most of the time at home, the only place where he feels secure and safe.”
Slow improvement
A doctor who treated Garda Mullen told the court improvement would be slow. He had supported Mr Mullen’s decision to retire on health grounds even from light duties. In the doctor’s view there was a connection between his role in the gardai and the profoundly negative and ongoing consequences of the assault.
Judge Barton said it was the view of the court that such improvement as may likely occur in relation to his injuries it was unlikely to be such as would result in his being able to secure and retain a stress-free basic employment resulting in any meaningful income.
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Perhaps it is time that JIMMY and the rest cut the cost of membership and there own salaries
Has he disclosed his salary and the value of his add ons ect what does it come to over the year
Jimmy, you are a bit of an eejit if you don’t know the effects of a pay cut!
Mind you, most of your members are reasonably well paid in secure pensionable jobs, not like the rest of us.
The government over employed in the public sector in the boom years to artificially inflate the figures, reality is a hard pill to swallow but a necessary one for the survival and recovery of the country.
30% of teachers are now part time casual workers on very low money.
Jimmy give us a break…sure the amount you and your trade union buddies earn nearly comes to the 1 billion mark!!
You employee. Us employer. You don’t make demands.
Vincent if u live a democracy (we don’t). It’s your right (privilege is a better word, right aren’t rights if they can take them away from u, are they?)
Anyways workers have the privilege to contest changes, yes?
I agree though no union leader/ TD should be on more than 3 times the industrial wage, as they have lost touch with those they are there to represent.
Jack o Connor recent outburst at those who disagree with him, is an example
Contest changes indeed, but if a company is haemorrhaging money, the company must act. Likewise the state must act in this case. Otherwise long term everyone pays more through increased taxation. Then again, selfless acts aren’t too common in Ireland today.
Brian. Agreed, it’s the method they are using which is unjust
But if a company is failing due to leadership issues it will make no difference what the workers scarf ice to keep it afloat, as the steering group of the company will repeat errors, or bow to external pressures again & again
Also to get everybody on board true leadership must be shown for example a 10% cut for staff, should be mirrored with a 20% cut for Mgt, want to drive change u must live that change, only thing FG are driving is this country off a fiscal cliff!
Why do all union chiefs have beards are are from north Dublin?
#Vincent Dolan, just because a person is an employee doesn’t mean they don’t have rights. Look at how Foxconn treat their workers, that’s what all employers want, that’s the way we are going in both private and public sectors. Less of the public/private division and more workers standing together.
It’s not rocket science Jimmy. It means that we shouldn’t have to borrow as much over the next few years. Still need to reduce the budget defecit.
What annoys me is the fact that most TD,S are claiming 60 grand per year in Unvouched Tax Free expenses and everyone seems to think its acceptable while the same gombeen men tell us they must slash peoples incomes !!!!!
I fully accept that I am going to have to take a significant pay cut. However, for every €1,000 I’m cut I will pay €420 less in income tax, about €100 less USC, over €100 less pension contributions to the government – over €600. The €400 less I’ll bring home will reduce discretionary spending – loss of another €80 in VAT. Down to €300 now. If 100 like me are in the same boat then that’s €30,000 less spent in the economy – 1 job gone as a result.
Savings of €1 billion in the pay bill does not mean €1 billion less in the deficit
Yep, we should obviously just give everybody in the PS a payrise of 1000 euros thus resulting in an increase in the tax take, and solving all our economic problems in one fell swoop.
Very good point from unite. Cuts in some ways are justified but there are many questions.
How much of the savings of 1 bn are to come from
People earning less than 50 k pa, 50 to 70 k, 70k to 90k, etc.?
What prices under the governments control will be reduced or held steady?
How much will be spent on stimulating growth?
When will the burden of income tax on the lower paid be reduced to cover the cost of other taxes, such as property, water, waste,
What is the tax strategy for the next 5 years (e.g. Will vat return to 21% max and when?) also when will corporations start to pay a reasonable share of the taxes?
‘How much will be spent on growth’…when the government reduce their wage bill, there is no extra money to be spent, just less money to borrow. Try to have some knowledge of the subject before entering into the debate.
It has already been said that any savings will go to pay the illegal gambling debt. Which part of this do people not understand? Jack and Jimmy would do better to get Begg to withdraw his outrageous support for the property tax.
Brian, you should read the comment again and you will see that there is no contradiction in what I say. Furthermore, the government is committed to spending some of the proceeds of the sale of assets on growth stimulation. I am happy I know enough about the situation to enter a debate with anyone open minded on the subject.
“Participants in the talks have not been told why the cuts are so necessary”
Where have the unions been for the past 5 years?
We’re broke!!!
David, Ireland is not broke, quite a wealthy country in fact
You’re right, we’re minted. All this talk of borrowing from the IMF is mere waffle.
How so? Please enlighten us.
JIMMY you should know better than anyone you’re members have nothing left to give simple word every union official used to know but seem to have forgot No
Your.
Punctuation, grammar and spelling fail
A 10% cut would take a minimum of €50 out of 290,000 workers weekly pay which is subsequently taken out of the economy with less income tax received by the government and less income to be spent on goods and services from Irish companies by the workers and therefore less vat received. Another sensible plan please
I was simply using this as example Anto, not a plan, but lets here your plan?
Brian look up stats surrounding wealth per country, disregard those countries who are major oil producers, then u might be surprised, plus ur mixing up wealth extracted by a Govt, not available wealth in a country, these are the details TDs use to confuse you, just look a little deeper!
Because all the money used to pay those wages just falls out of the sky, doesn’t it. Clueless.
Good old Jimmy. He never changes his tune.
So Jimmy believes no need to balance the budget.
We can simply keep borrowing money for ever. We can keep spending more money than we take in as taxes.
What a great idea, sure our lenders will not be rude enough to ask for repayment.
Jimmy has not changed much since his days in the Socailist Workers Party.
I would say these questions have been devised by the likes of Michael Taft, the UNITE economist who has articles on this site now and again. He is most certainly not in the SWP.
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