Garda shot during house search awarded €404,000 by High Court

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A former detective garda who was shot and seriously injured during a search for drugs and firearms at a house in Dublin has been awarded €404,000 by the High Court. Paul McManus…

A former detective garda who was shot and seriously injured during a search for drugs and firearms at a house in Dublin has been awarded €404,000 by the High Court.

Paul McManus (46) was part of a 12-strong Garda Special Tactical Operations Command unit carrying out a search at a house in Ballymun on December 7th, 2017, when the incident happened.

In October 2021, the shooter, Charles Moore (53), of Barnwell Drive, Ballymun, who had 18 previous convictions including for violent assault, was jailed for nine years.

In a judgment under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts, in favour of McManus and against the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Judge Leonie Reynolds said the former garda had sustained a “through-and-through” gunshot wound – where a bullet enters and exits the body – to his left arm. Moore unsuccessfully tried to fire a second shot.

McManus suffered blood loss and lost consciousness, and was taken by ambulance from the scene to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.

The judge said McManus described the incident as a profoundly traumatic event and that had he recounted the circumstances surrounding the shooting “with understated courage”.

He testified that, following the shooting, he experienced significant psychological difficulties, including symptoms diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He had recurrent recollections of the shooting, hypervigilance, anxiety, panic attacks and ongoing psychological distress.

He returned to work in February 2019 and resumed full operational duties but the effects of the shooting remained with him.

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