A Donegal-based Garda has been awarded €45,000 in compensation for hip and leg injuries he received in a crash in which his best friend and fellow Garda died.
Tragic Garda Gary McLoughlin
Tributes were paid in the High Court to Garda Bernard McLoughlin who attempted to save the life of Garda Gary McLoughlin.
Garda McLoughlin died shortly after their patrol car had been rammed in Co Donegal three years ago.
Garda Bernard McLoughlin told Ms Justice Mary Irvine that after finding a pulse, he held his colleague’s head in a recovery position in their wrecked car until emergency services arrived.
Michael Carson SC, for Garda Bernard McLoughlin, told a Garda compensation hearing yesterday that Gary McLoughlin had died in hospital just hours after the crash.
Garda Bernard McLoughlin, who, since the crash on December 13th, 2009, has taken educational leave to study in Australia.
Ms Justice Irvine said the two men who shared the same surname were more than colleagues. They were best friends who had shared a flat and had trained together in Templemore before sharing Garda duties in Buncrana.
In July 2011, Martin McDermott from Raphoe, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, with the final year suspended, for the manslaughter of Garda McLoughlin.