SCOTT MEDALS WERE awarded to four Gardaí who tackled and disarmed armed men, two gardaí who saved a woman and her two children from a burning house fire and a special Scott Medal citation made to a retired superintendent who pursued and arrested an IRA escapee.
The top award given on the day was to Detective Garda Eoin Colbert. He was honoured with a silver Scott Medal for managing to disarm a man who had threatened to shoot him with what was believed to be a firearm.
On the evening of April 3, 2006 two males armed with an imitation firearm and a screwdriver robbed a pharmacy in Dublin 7 and then fled the scene in a waiting car. After a short pursuit, the two culprits jumped from the car and ran in opposite directions, but were chased by the gardaí.
Threatened to shoot
The suspect that Garda Colbert was chasing stopped and threatened to shoot him. Colbert tackled him, was struck in the face but managed to disarm and arrest him. On the same day, Garda Murphy pursued and apprehended the other culprit, who was armed with a screwdriver and as a result was awarded a bronze medal for bravery.
A bronze medal was awarded to Detective Garda Karl Moriarty for disarming an “unstable” man with a rifle who threatened to shoot him in a bookies in Clonnee in Co Dublin in April 2010. Det Moriarty, who was off duty at the time, tackled the armed man. Although the culprit escaped, Moriarty managed to hold onto the rifle which was handed over to investigating gardaí.
Rammed patrol car
Two bronze medals were awarded to Gardaí Brian Dromey and Killian Barry apprehending two men, one who had a gun and was wearing a balaclava. When the gardaí initially tried to confront the two culprits they rammed their patrol car with their Audi. In May 2010, both men pleaded guilty and received sentences of seven years and four and a half years imprisonment.
Gardaí Neil Murphy and Michael Murphy were both awarded bronze Scott Medals when they managed to save a 23-year-old woman and her two children from a house fire in September 2010, at an estate in Wexford. The gardaí, woman and children were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation but were otherwise uninjured.
And finally, a Scott Medal citation was made to retired Superintendent Aiden Roche who was unable to receive his gold accolade in October 1975 for pursuing and arresting an IRA escapee from Portlaoise Prison, despite the fact he was attacked by a hostile crowd who threatened to shoot him.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform presents recipients with their medals at an annual Scott Medal ceremony at the Garda College in Templemore.
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