Former US Embassy employee fails to prove gardaí unlawfully seized and crushed his work van

Ray Managh

A former employee of the US Embassy in Dublin has failed to prove that gardaí unlawfully seized his untaxed and uninsured work van from private property and then, without warning him, had it destroyed in a crusher, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Judge Geoffrey Shannon said in the Circuit Civil Court that Tomasz Pysz, of Archers Wood, Clonee, Dublin, had failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish a claim of negligence or breach of good faith against the Garda Commissioner or support an allegation of racial discrimination against Blanchardstown gardaí.

The 12-year-old Fiat van had been bought by Pysz for €2,000 only days before its seizure in October 2022. Last year, gardaí nationwide seized 16,000 untaxed and uninsured vehicles from roadside parking spots in public areas, many of which had been retrieved on payment of fixed penalties.

Judge Shannon said Mr Pysz had alleged his van had been taken from private property but the court determined the parking space where he had left it to be a public place as defined in the Road Traffic Act -- as any public road, street or place to which the public have access.

The judge told barrister Ciaran Mandal, counsel for the gardaí, that Mr Pysz had not had the van re-registered in his own name and had been unable to show to the court that gardaí had not, as legally bound within a mandatory period of 21 days, notified its seizure to the registered owner from whom Mr Pysz had bought it.

Judge Shannon said Mr Pysz had contended that gardaí unlawfully entered private property without a warrant and had pleaded trespass, negligence, and racial discrimination because he was Polish and may have acted out of revenge as he was taking a High Court case against An Garda Síochána on another issue.

Garda witnesses had told Judge Shannon that the van had been parked in a public place and that the only registered owner known to them had been legally informed of its seizure and proposed destruction.

Judge Shannon said he had found Mr Pysz to be an honest and credible witness but he had not been in a position to provide the court with independent evidence to support his assertion that the old owner of the van had not been notified when the van was seized.

“It is to be noted that Mr Pysz did not call the previous owner to give evidence,” Judge Shannon said. “Mr Pysz did not provide sufficient evidence to establish a claim of negligence or breach of good faith by the gardaí.”

The judge awarded costs against Pysz but put a stay on his order to facilitate consideration of any possible appeal to the High Court.