A woman in her 60s has brought a High Court action against the State alleging she was viciously assaulted after a large force of gardaí kicked down the door of her flat while apprehending a youth in her home.
The State denies the claims and pleads that, if the gardaí entered her flat, they did so lawfully with a search warrant, only forced entry when repeated requests to admit them were refused and used reasonable force. They also claim that a pit-bull terrier was set on them and that the reason so many gardaí were there was because of the violent character of the youth.
The action is being taken by Ann Osborne (63), of Fitzgerald Park, Mounttown, Dún Laoghaire, against the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General.
Senior counsel Richard McDonald, for Ms Osborne, said she had an unblemished record and the incident occurred on August 15th, 1995, when she was downstairs on a grass section of the flat complex. She was having coffee with friends when between 10 and 20 gardaí arrived and ran up separate stairways.
He said the gardaí had gone about breaking into two flats, including his client's where she had lived for eight years, and had started to break down her door. She was extremely frightened and agitated but made her way up to the flat and offered the key to the gardaí. This offer was spurned. When she went into her own home, she was pushed and fell against a fireplace and injured her hand, he said.
Ms Osborne's statement of claim alleges the gardaí, while shouting "foul and abusive language" at her, kicked her repeatedly in the left shin and stood on her foot. A garda allegedly caught her by the arm and pulled her out of the house.
Ms Osborne, in evidence, said she had found a young boy on the couch in her flat with two gardaí beating him with batons. The gardaí told her to "f . . . off" and asked her to leave. No attempt was made to produce any documents to her.
She knew the boy on the couch, she said. He was 16 years of age and she never knew him to be violent but she had not given him permission to be in her house.
Ms Osborne rejected the suggestion that she was part of a mob at the scene and had received her injuries as a result.
In cross-examination, Ms Osborne said said she never knew anything about the youth assaulting a garda or putting a stone through the window of a Garda car. She was unaware he was wanted for burglary and some violent confrontations with gardaí and others. She did not remember a pit-bull terrier being set on the gardaí but she did hear about that afterwards.
The defence deny the door was kicked down or that the gardaí breached Ms Osborne's legal or constitutional rights. They also deny assault. The gardaí deny they were actuated by malevolence or spite towards Ms Osborne.
The defence claim Ms Osborne was not in the house at the material time and if she suffered the alleged injuries, they arose from her and others interfering with the gardaí who were lawfully executing their duty. The hearing continues.