Madden & Finucane
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Madden & Finucane
present
the Madden & Finucane
and Pat Finucane
Aisling Awards
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an educational initiative between Belfast Media Group and West Belfast
Partnership. The Aisling Bursaries are designed to help students defray their
education and training costs.
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Victims win plastic bullet case
05 February 1999 --
DAMAGES... Michael Cosby shows the effects of being struck by a plastic bullet
THESE are the horrific pictures of plastic bullet victims which last night
prompted a solicitor to demand the weapons be banned. Four people were awarded
substantial damages in the high court in Belfast yesterday after being wounded
by baton rounds during riots surrounding the Drumcree standoff of 1996. It came
in the same week as the British government insisted it would continue to use
plastic baton rounds during civil disturbances. The photographs were released
exclusively to the Irish News. One of the four, a former British army soldier,
yesterday endorsed the call for a ban. Michael Cosby, a 36-year-old father of
three from Prestwick Drive in north Belfast, was awarded damages of £115,000 but
said it was a paltry sum considering what he had suffered. While performing a
Good Samaritan act in July 1996, Mr Cosby was struck in the face by a plastic
bullet fired by a policeman, which cost him the sight of his right eye. “I have
lost all my faith in the police service I was walking along a public highway
when I was shot. How can I explain to my children that this act was committed by
a member of the police force?” he said. “These bullets should be outlawed
innocent children could be killed. I’m a grown man and it nearly killed me, and
I’ve been left with impaired vision for the rest of my life.” As well as being
fitted with an artificial eye, Mr Cosby also had to have surgery to repair
injuries to his nose and face. He said he was particularly bitter that the
policeman involved has been identified but not charged. Two other Belfast men
who suffered eye injuries after being hit by plastic bullets in different
incidents were also awarded damages. Paul Morris (25) from Divismore Crescent,
got £20,000 and Robert Milliken (23) from Glencolin Heights, both west Belfast,
received £5,000. Nicola Duffy (25), from Farringdon Gardens, Ardoyne, who
suffered post traumatic stress disorder after a serious thigh injury caused by a
plastic bullet, was awarded £12,500. In each case the defendant was the chief
constable of the RUC. Solicitor Eamann McMenamin of Madden and Finucane, who
represented all four, said the cases illustrated the misuse of plastic bullets
as the regulations stated they should not strike anyone above the waist. Mr
McMenamin said over 6,000 plastic bullets had been fired during the short period
in July 1996, when his four clients were injured. “I am acting on behalf of 23
people who sustained serious injuries caused by plastic bullets and the general
picture that emerges is that there was no accountability for the individual
rounds which caused the injuries,” said Mr McMenamin.“Despite complaints being
lodged, no action was taken against the named police officer who fired the
bullet which cost Mr Cosby the sight of an eye.”
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