A man who lost an eye when he was struck by a plastic bullet was awarded £100,000 compensation in the High Court in Belfast yesterday. The action by Mr Joseph Toner (27), from Keady, Co Armagh, against the RUC Chief Constable was settled out of court.
In July, 1996, Mr Toner was taking part in a protest against an Orange parade entering Keady when a mini-bus carrying loyalists drove through a police checkpoint. In the trouble which followed, police fired a dozen plastic bullets, one of which struck Mr Toner in the face.