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Haulier sues police for raid
Page 12
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Ni Police stand accused of assault during a raid on a haulier's depot.
Anton McCabe reports.
AN OWNER-DRIVER in Northern Ireland has begun civil proceedings against the police, claiming they assaulted him following the discovery of a stolen JCB on his premises.
The Police Ombudsman is also investigating after Derek Lyons complained he was blinded in one eye and lost thousands in earnings because he was forced to close his business due to his injuries.
Omagh-based Lyons,59,ac.cepts that the stolen vehicle was found on his premises — he says his son, Mark, had been hired to move it from Scotland in the belief it was a legitimate load.
Lyons' solicitor,John Bogue,says it is significant that the Director of Public Prosecutions has dropped charges of possessing stolen property, assaulting three policemen, resisting arrest and damaging a police car. He alleges police applied handcuffs extremely tightly and tightened them further when he complained. He adds that one officer poked him in the eye,causing a serious injury and when he complained they told him: "You're an old woman, shut the f**k up."
Driver John Taggart said he saw four or five police jumping on Lyons after he argued with them: "Mr Lyons was also shouting with the pain of his hands and ...that the handcuffs were too tight."
initial statements by police said the cuffs were removed in the normal way, but a sergeant later admitted he had to use bolt-cutters.
James Sharkey, a consultant eye surgeon has reported: "It is... not possible for Mr Lyons to have any visual recovery. .1 think he has had a permanent, total and irrevocable loss of sight in his left eye."
Michael Watt, consultant neurologist believes Lyons has "bilateral handcuff neuropathies, which are related to the too tight application of handcuffs."
A police spokesman refuses to comment at present.