‘Rodney King’ baton garda walks free

A garda involved in a baton attack which a judge likened to the Rodney King assault in Los Angeles has been found not guilty.

Judge Donagh McDonagh ruled that Gerard Curtis should be found not guilty because the prosecution failed to prove he was not acting in self-defence when he struck the 19-year-old victim with his baton.

Judge McDonagh reviewed CCTV footage of the incident which showed gardaí smashing the windows of a crashed stolen car in which John Paul Maughan and an accomplice had been travelling.

The judge queried why the windows were smashed and the suspect pulled through the frame when the car was clearly not going anywhere. He continued, “This, to me, is a case of a single garda over-reacting.”

Judge McDonagh added, "On first viewing, one is reminded of the Rodney King beating. Self-control was sadly lacking."

According to reports in the Irish Independent Maughan said during the trial that when gardai surrounded the car he told them to relax and put his hands out to be handcuffed.

The other gardaí present argued that the defendant had used an appropriate amount of force, but their evidence was criticised by Judge McDonagh: "I do not believe his colleagues bathed themselves in glory either. Too much of the evidence in this trial was clearly partisan," he said.

Footage of the Rodney King incident: