A WATERFORD COURT has heard that three gardaí allegedly kicked, punched and stood on an inebriated man as he lay on the ground while being arrested.
It is alleged that a fourth garda, who was supervising the city’s CCTV cameras from the garda station at the time, twice turned the camera that was recording the incident away from the action as it unfolded.
Garda Daniel Hickey, Sgt Alan Kissane and Sgt Martha McEnery, all with addresses at Waterford Garda Station, have been charged with assaulting Anthony Holness of Belvedere Drive, Paddy Browne’s Road, Waterford on New Street on 29 January 2010.
Garda John Burke, the fourth garda, also with an address at Waterford Garda Station has been charged with acting with the intention of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another and acting in a manner tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.
All four have plead not guilty to the charges.
The court heard that on the night in question Holness had been drinking and, on his way home, had urinated against a wall on New Street in the centre of the city. Garda Hickey approached Holness and then decided to arrest him, RTÉ reports,
Holness allegedly swung his jacket and Hickey then deployed pepper spray.
The court then heard allegations that Sgt Kissane and Sgt McEnery then arrived on the scene and, after Holness had been handcuffed, all three gardaí assaulted him.
The trial continues.
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