A Waterford garda sergeant has been acquitted by a jury of assault causing harm but has been convicted of a lesser charge of assault.
Sgt Martha McEnery had denied the charge of assault causing harm to Anthony Holness (38) at New Street in Waterford January 29th, 2010.
Today at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court a jury of five men and seven women spent over four hours deliberating the charge before acquitting her of assault causing harm but convicting her of assault.
Judge Leonie Reynolds remanded Sgt McEnery on continuing bail for sentence on November 7th next.
On Friday, the same jury found one garda guilty of assault and another of intending to pervert the course of justice. A third officer was cleared of assault.
Garda Daniel Hickey of Waterford Garda station was convicted by the jury of assault causing harm to Mr Holness.
Garda John Burke was convicted of separate charges of acting with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of another and acting in a manner tending and intended to pervert the course of justice by diverting CCTV cameras from the assault.
The two officers have been remanded in custody for sentencing on the same date.
Another officer, Sgt Alan Kissane, was cleared by the jury of assault causing harm to Mr Holness.
Judge Leonie Reynolds had told the jury they must treat the cases against each of the defendants separately and consider the evidence against each on its merits.
“Each of the individuals has to be treated separately,” said Judge Reynolds in her charge to the jury when she summarised the 14 days of evidence given by over 20 witnesses in the trial of the four officers who are all stationed at Waterford Garda station.
Judge Reynolds reminded the jury how the injured party, Mr Holness, was caught short after drinking seven to eight pints on a night out in Waterford on January 29th, 2010. He stopped to urinate on New Street where he was spotted by Garda Hickey who was on patrol with student Garda Áine Mullins.
Mr Holness told the court he was blinded as a result of being pepper-sprayed, incapacitated and subdued as he was being arrested.
The defendants, Garda Hickey, Sgt Kissane and Sgt McEnery, contradicted this and contended that Mr Holness was flailing around while he was on the ground and refused to make his hand available so that he could be handcuffed, she said.
The jury were shown CCTV footage of Mr Holness being challenged by Garda Hickey and an altercation arising with Mr Holness taking off his jacket and swinging it at Garda Hickey before the officer appeared to punch him a number of times and brought him to the ground with a headlock.
Judge Reynolds reminded the jury that the State alleged that two movements of the CCTV cameras away from the incident was a deliberate diverting by Garda Burke designed to cover up and conceal the treatment of Mr Holness by Garda Hickey, Sgt Kissane and Sgt McEnery as they arrested him.
She said the State had alleged that Garda Hickey had repeatedly punched Mr Holness on the head, that Sgt Kissane stood on his hand and on the back of his neck and that Sgt McEnery struck him on the back of his head with her closed fist – all as he lay on the ground after being pepper-sprayed.
And she pointed out both Sgt Kissane and Sgt McEnery had made statements to Garda Síochána Ombudsman investigators in which they said they didn’t believe they had used excessive force in trying to restrain and arrest Mr Holness, who kept one hand under his body and refused to allow himself be handcuffed.
She said Garda Burke had told investigators that the joystick controlling CCTV camera movements was highly sensitive and that he must have accidentally hit against it causing it to swivel away from the arrest of Mr Holness and that he had operated the camera to the best of his ability at all times.
