IT engineer who was beaten in Phoenix Park on 30 July says officers handling his case asked if he provoked his attackers

A man savagely beaten in an apparent homophobic assault in Dublin has reported the Garda Síochána to Ireland’s police watchdog because he claims officers dealing with his case asked him if he had provoked his attackers.

Marcin Malinowski has made a formal complaint to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission over the way he says he was treated by investigating officers.



The 38-year-old IT engineer was badly beaten by a group of up to 10 teenagers on bikes in Phoenix Park on 30 July, during which he was subjected to verbal homophobic abuse.



Malinowski says his attackers were also led by a number of older men in a black Golf Volkswagen car who were also yelling abuse at him as he cycled through the park at about 9.30pm that evening.



“The whole thing from the start seemed organised. They were all on bikes and in front of them were there guys in the black Golf goading them on. They were out hunting for victims. The men in the car were shouting and yelling, ‘Kill the faggot’.”



“When they started to follow me I tried to outrun them on my bike, but eventually by the time I got to the cricket club they had caught up and I got knocked off my bike by a tree. Some of the boys ran to the car boot and pulled out metal bars, and then I knew I had to fight for my life.”



He says he managed to fight off a number of them but was eventually overwhelmed by his attackers. “I remember looking down and being covered in blood as they beat me beside the tree. I would have been dead only for a man who was passing by in the park and ran over to help me. At the sight of him these thugs scattered, getting on their bikes and following the car in the direction of Parkgate Street into town.”

The Polish immigrant sustained cuts and bruises all over his body, while his face was badly swollen from the beating. “But for that brave man confronting those thugs I could have been killed. I was spitting up blood all over the ambulance when it was eventually called, trying to call the Garda on my mobile phone but couldn’t get through.”



Malinowski says the trauma of the attack, both physical and psychological, was compounded by the way the Garda treated his case. “No one came to interview me in the hospital for 24 hours, at at time when I might have remembered in vivid details things like the registration of the car. It took until 4 August before I finally got to speak to Garda officers and be interviewed about the attack.



“In that first meeting one of them said: ‘Are you really sure it was a hate crime?’ I started to feel that no one was listening to me; that this was an organised homophobic attack and that these thugs were going about targeting gay men.”



However, Malinowski’s second discussion with a Garda officer compounded his belief that they were not taking his claims seriously. “I took a phone from a female Garda officer and the first thing she asked me was, ‘Did you do anything to provoke them?’ I couldn’t believe what she was saying to me. I replied on the phone, ‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ I was on my way home from work to my home in Blanchardstown going through the park. How is that provoking them?

“What she was really saying was that I was in the park meeting guys for sex, making it out as if I was at fault even though I was on my bike going home.”

His anger over his treatment at the hands of the Garda was heightened by a letter officers sent to his address in Dublin containing details about the attack and contacts for victims organisations.

“The envelope containing some personal details and those contacts wasn’t even sealed or glued. It meant that anyone in the house I share with could have opened it and read it. The whole thing was shabby and casual.”



A spokesman for the Garda said the force could not comment on the case due to the ombudsman’s complaint. “As the complaint has been made to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, it would be inappropriate for Garda Síochána to comment. All queries should be directed to GSOC.”

Malinowski emigrated to Ireland partly because of the rise of rightwing xenophobia and homophobia in his native Poland. He had lived in Galway city, and had only moved to Dublin a month before the attack.

“I used to think that Dublin was a gay-friendly city, especially after last year’s referendum to legalise gay marriage. But while you can get married if you are gay and your marriage is equal in Irish law, you are still not protected against hate crime in this city.

“This was an organised attack and if is not taken seriously there will be other victims who are maybe not as strong or able to fight back, and who could end up in a far worse state than I am.”

Marcin’s surname has been changed in this article to protect his identity.