Armed gardaí entered wrong house and terrified children in their beds, court told

Ray Managh

Armed gardaí broke into and searched the wrong house and then entered the bedroom of three terrified children aged between eight and 14 who had been asleep in their beds, a judge was told.

Barrister Conor Kearney told Judge Fiona O’Sullivan in the Circuit Civil Court that several members of the Garda armed unit entered the children's bedroom and pointed their guns at a wardrobe before allowing the children downstairs where they were kept with their parents for two hours while their home was searched.

Mr Kearney, who appeared with Chris Horrigan of Blake Horrigan Solicitors, told Judge O’Sullivan that Ruby Maeve O’Reilly Gibbons, now aged 11, and her sisters Molly (10) and Kayleigh (16) had been extremely afraid during the raid.

He said that shortly after the September 2022 incident, all the children had to receive counselling for shock and trauma and their family and social lives had been disrupted.

Mr Kearney said the family, including the children’s parents, had sued the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and settlement offers of €17,500 had been made in respect of each child, which he was recommending to the court on the basis that liability could become an issue due to an existing legal authority.

The court heard that the parents, of Clifden Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, had each already settled their separate €60,000 damages claims for personal injury for sums that were not disclosed to the judge on Friday.

The armed guards had broken into the wrong house and searched it over a period of two hours, the court was told, while the parents and their three children were kept downstairs. The children brought their claims through their mother, Erica O’Reilly.

Mr Kearney said the facts were the same in all three cases and the medical reports submitted to the court were similar regarding the distress the children suffered and their treatment. He said a defence had not been entered in any of the three cases but a full defence had been entered in the cases involving their parents.

Judge O’Sullivan, approving of the settlements totalling €52,500 for the three children, said they had suffered a distressing experience and she felt the money on offer was fair and appropriate.