Garda used ‘weasel words’ in denying assault

Garda used ‘weasel words’ in denying assault


AN off-duty garda who was convicted of assaulting a Westport woman was given a three-month suspended prison sentence in Westport District Court last week, and ordered to pay a fine of €1,000 and a further €1,000 to his victim.
Mr Kevin Higgins, with an address at 2A Bray Head Terrace, Vevay Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, who is a garda stationed in Dublin, was convicted of assaulting Mrs Pauline Gibbons in Westport, after she had gone to remove her son from an argument he was having with Mr Higgins.
Judge Mary Devins  had previously found the defendant not guilty of assaulting David Gibbons, but guilty of assaulting Pauline Gibbons.
In passing sentence last week, Judge Devins said she found the evidence given by the defendant to be ‘unusually self-serving’ and full of ‘weasel words’.
“It included a detailed recollection of his injuries but a lack of recall of any aggression on his part,” she said. “That self-serving attitude forced Pauline Gibbons to have to give evidence and it is not easy for a lay-person to do so against a garda. The contrast between the accused – a young, fit, trained and professional member of An Garda Síochána – and the victim – a mature lady of petite stature – is very obvious, and the nature of the assault was not technical. This was a case of a young man who grabbed a woman by her hair, struck her in the temple and kicked her in the groin. He is privileged to be in a professional role where he represents the State, and this role carries responsibility and a duty to act appropriately.”
The court then heard that the defendant had no previous convictions and Judge Devins imposed the sentence, also saying that if Mrs Gibbons was not in a position to take the €1,000 then it should go to a charity of her choice.