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Frank Shortt awarded €4.6m damages
23.03.07
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Redcastle’s Frank
Shortt was this week celebrating a Supreme Court
ruling to double the damages awarded to him by the
High Court. Mr. Shortt, a 72-year old married father
of five, was wrongly convicted in 1995 of allowing
the sale of drugs at his Point Inn nightclub at
Quigley's Point. He served 27 months of a three year
sentence in jail. |
He was not at
Wednesday’s hearing but the Shortt family later said
they were ‘over the moon’. Son Jalisco said no words
could describe how happy they felt.
He said the judgment showed his father was an
innocent man and that finally his name had been
cleared.
The High Court awarded Frank Shortt €1.93m in
damages in 2005 for the miscarriage of justice he
suffered and granted him substantial legal costs. |
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But he appealed to the
Supreme Court which awarded him more than €4.5m on
Wednesday.
General damages including aggravated damages were
increased from €500,000 to €2.25m.
Punitive damages were increased from €50,000 to €1m.
This is believed to be the largest ever punitive
damages award in the history of the State.
Chief Justice Mr. Justice John Murray said Mr.
Shortt had been the victim of disreputable conduct
and a shocking abuse of power on the part of two
Garda officers.
He said the Inishowen man, an accountant by
profession, suffered a ‘tormenting saga’ of
imprisonment, estrangement from family, loss of
business, public and professional ignominy and
despair. |
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