A special needs child was stripped naked and whipped with his own belt while in garda custody, according to new claims.
Dr Richard O'Flaherty told the Dáil's Justice Committee this week that he has evidence of how a young boy was beaten badly while in the care of An Garda Siochána. The GP, who worked as an on-call doctor for garda stations, made his submissions as part of a hearing on the effectiveness of the Garda Siochána Act 2005 in relation to oversight of the gardaí.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the case referred to by Dr O'Flaherty involved a 17-year-old who had been taken into custody after stealing his father's car and the GP had forwarded a complaint on the matter to former Justice Minister Alan Shatter.
Justice Committee chairman David Stanton interjected while Dr O'Flaherty was recounting the story of the disabled boy and asked that he only refer to legislative changes to the Garda Síochána Act.
