Galway Bay fm newsroom – A Garda has been awarded 207 thousand euro in damages after he was attacked by two pitbull terriers during a drugs raid on a house in the city in June 2008.
Detective Garda John Leahy was on patrol with the Divisional Drug unit in Galway when he and his colleague spotted two known drug users near Wolfe Tone Bridge.
Gardaí followed the drug users to a house at St Dominick’s Road, Claddagh, and once satisfied that there was suspicious activity going on inside, they called for reinforcements and entered the house, identifying themselves as the Garda drug unit.
Detective Leahy attempted to arrest a man after he was seen putting what he believed to be heroin into his mouth, but the man resisted arrest.
The light in the room was switched off as he tried to search the man, and both he and the suspect fell to the ground.
Two pit bulls which were released from another room during the raid attacked the detective, biting him on the legs.
The court heard gardaí eventually managed to remove one of the pit bulls by hitting it with a baton – and it took six Gardaí to control the dogs.
Detective Leahy required 100 stitches, and the court heard he has scars on his legs, was out of work for a year and still suffers from mild symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the High Court this week, Justice Bernard Barton said in a reserved judgement that Detective Leahy suffered an exacerbation of a degenerative condition in his back and left hip – but denied it was sufficient enough to require surgery.
According to the Irish Times, he was awarded over 207 thousand euro in damages against the state.