The court heard they were arrested when gardaí were investigating an attempted handbag theft from a woman in Grafton Street.Two brothers have been awarded €95,000 each by a High Court jury who found they had been maliciously prosecuted following their mistaken arrest in relation to an alleged handbag theft in Dublin city centre 16 years ago.
The brothers claimed that after boarding the Luas at St Stephen’s Green, Gardai Barry and Petrie violently grabbed them and pulled them from the tram.Media barred from naming man accused of attempted kidnapping of toddler in DublinThey also claimed the gardaí, who were in plainclothes, never identified themselves but this was denied by the defendants.
The next day the two gardaí went and spoke to the brothers and told them there had been a mistake and it was not their intention to harm them. It was also claimed they were told not to make a complaint or they would also be charged with assault. On Friday, following a two week trial, a jury of eight women and four men, after just over three hours of deliberation, found the prosecution of the brothers was instituted and maintained the prosecution for the improper purpose of dissuading them from seeking legal redress for their treatment by the gardaí.