The force used by a garda who pepper-sprayed a homeless man in a doorway in Dublin in March was “justified, lawful and proportionate”, an investigation by the Garda Ombudsman has found.
A report published on Wednesday detailed the watchdog’s investigation into the incident on Friday March 13th at Henry Street in the city centre and noted a video recorded by a passerby had gone viral and generated “disquiet among the public, some of whom believed the garda concerned had used excessive force”.
In its conclusion, GSOC said insufficient evidence of either a criminal or disciplinary nature had been established in the investigation.
“It appears that any force used by the garda concerned in this incident was justified, lawful and proportionate under the circumstances and no more than absolutely necessary.”
Outlining the sequence of events, the ombudsman said the 34-year-old man had spent his morning in the vicinity of Henry Street and had visited Tesco on Parnell Street on a number of occasions, where he purchased “at least five bottles of wine”.
He drank the wine in a laneway close to Parnell Street.
The man had been asked to move on by the garda after he was found drunk and slouched against the shutters of a shop. Five minutes later, he was seen on CCTV “staggering and appearing to be very intoxicated, loitering around the entrance to an empty shop on Henry Street”.
The garda approached the man a second time and eventually arrested him for being drunk at 3.30pm and waited for assistance.
An account provided by the garda of how the man took his incapacitant spray from its holster, ripping the lanyard, and how the garda then sprayed the man, was supported by CCTV, the ombudsman said.
‘Very drunk and aggressive’
The report said the custody record had also shown the man had been “very drunk and aggressive” when taken to Store Street station. Due to a technical issue with the CCTV system at the station, however, no CCTV was available for the GSOC inquiry.
The ombudsman opened a public interest investigation on March 18th after it received 17 queries from members of the public who had watched the video clip on social media and were concerned about the possibility of assault and excessive force being used.
It also noted “considerable media coverage expressing concern about the incident”.
Witness accounts by people working in nearby businesses had varied, the report noted. None of them had been close enough to witness the spray being used by the garda.
Forensic analysis of the mobile phone belonging to the student who filmed the incident was inconclusive as to whether incapacitant spray had indeed been used by the garda when the man was handcuffed on the ground.
The man concerned was interviewed by GSOC staff on March 20th in the presence of two advocates from the homeless charities Focus Ireland and the Father Peter McVerry Trust.
An interpreter was used as he had limited English.
“His memory was poor and he could not remember anything of note concerning the incident, due to his heavy state of intoxication at the time. He made no complaint against gardaí as a result and reported no physical injuries, other than having a swollen left hand and wrist, but could not explain how it had occurred.
The garda involved was also interviewed and admitted being the garda on the video clip circulated on social media. He denied his actions were anything other than proportionate and professional, the ombudsman said.
GSOC said the garda also produced his incapacitant spray holster and safety lanyard, which had been damaged after being grabbed during the incident.
The garda denied using his incapacitant spray on the man after he was restrained by handcuffs. The garda suffered no physical injuries.