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sarah murphy

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Supreme Court: Man awarded €5,000 after State breached his constitutional right to an expeditious trial

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The Supreme Court has determined that an accused man was entitled to €5,000 in compensation from the State as a result of “systematic delays” in the appeal process which delayed his hearing. The man’s appeal had been adjourned on five occasions between 2011 and 2013 in the Cou

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sarah murphy

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Bobby Messett died from single gunshot wound to head, Dr Marie Cassidy tells trial

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Gerard Cervi (34) has pleaded not guilty to murdering Bobby Messett in June 2018.

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https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/health-and-safety-trainer-loses-60000-action-against-lidl-over-lifting-heavy-pack-of-bottles-40952178.html

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A health and safety trainer, who allegedly showed reckless disregard for his own safety by lifting weights he would advise others not to lift, has lost a €60,000 damages claim against Lidl and has been ordered to pay the store's significant legal costs.

udge Alice Doyle told 40-year-old Adam Kaminski that while she considered him an honest witness, the court considered he had been adequately and extensively trained in safety procedures by Lidl.

Garreth Holland, a Lidl administrative executive, told the court sitting in Wexford that Kaminski, of Elm Park, New Ross, had undergone an intensive five-day manual handling course just over a year before an incident in which he claimed to have injured his lower back.

Mr Holland said Mr Kaminski had in fact become a qualified manual handling trainer for Lidl before the August 2018 incident at its Marsh Meadows outlet had happened.

Mr Kaminski claimed he had injured a disc in his back when lifting a heavy pack of water bottles. He said he had suffered pain in his lower back and left leg but had continued working on through his shift.

The court heard he had been seen by a doctor in New Ross who had certified him unfit for work. He had never taken up his job again with Lidl, but instead was now working as a customer assistant with a transport company.

Mr Kaminiski told barrister Kevin Byrne, who appeared with Ronan Daly Jermyn solicitors for the store, that because of a long waiting list in Ireland for orthopaedic appointments, he had travelled to his native Poland for surgery on his back. In October 2018 he had undergone a discectomy there.

Back in Wexford, he had revisited his GP Dr Michael O'Beirne in November 2018 who had advised him to commence a physiotherapy programme of rehabilitation.

Dismissing Mr Kaminski's claim, Judge Doyle said he had been adequately trained and had diverged from that extensive training given by Lidl against whom she could not find any evidence of negligence or breach of duty.

She ordered Mr Kaminski to pay Lidl's legal costs of contesting his claim.

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Health and safety trainer loses €60,000 action against Lidl over lifting heavy pack of bottles

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A health and safety trainer, who allegedly showed reckless disregard for his own safety by lifting weights he would advise others not to lift, has lost a €60,000 damages claim against Lidl and has been ordered to pay the store's significant legal costs.

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https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40721352.html

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A teenager who is in custody on a charge of committing an attempted armed robbery of a popular seaside shop in Cork is to apply to be released on bail later in the month.

The young man appeared by video link from Cork Prison at Cork District Court on Thursday. He was represented in court by solicitor Daithí Ó Donnabháin.

Sergeant Gearóid Davis said it was a relatively new matter and directions were awaited from the Director of Public Prosecutions. He applied to have the case adjourned until October 27. Mr Ó Donnabháin said on that date there would be a bail application.

It was previously indicated that gardaí would be objecting to bail being granted to the accused.

Detective Garda Declan Healy arrested 18-year-old Billy Scannell earlier this month. The accused was cautioned that he did not have to say anything but that anything he might say would be taken down in writing and could be given in evidence. He made no reply to the charge.

The charge is one of attempted robbery that allegedly occurred on Thursday morning, October 7, at O'Connell's shop in Myrtleville. It was reported the raider allegedly produced an imitation handgun in the course of attempted robbery.

In the course of an application for free legal aid, the solicitor said the young man was in a state of some destitution and living rough. Judge Kelleher granted free legal aid.

It was reported the alarm was raised shortly after 11am on the Thursday, when a masked man, armed with a suspected handgun, walked into O'Connell's shop in Myrtleville and threatened staff and demanded cash before he fleeing the scene on foot.

It was further reported that builders working on a nearby site saw the raider fleeing the scene and knew immediately that something was wrong. They caught up with the lone raider a short distance away and restrained him while staff at the shop contacted gardaí.

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Teenager charged with armed robbery of Cork seaside shop to apply for bail

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A teenager who is in custody on a charge of committing an attempted armed robbery of a popular seaside shop in Cork is to apply to be released on bail later in the month. The young man appeared by video link from Cork Prison at Cork District Court on Thursday.

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Oisín Doherty

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A JUDGE postponed sentencing a man for an unprovoked attack on a dog-walker and his pet in Dublin while a psychiatric report is compiled.

idan Mulkearn (49) with an address at South Circular Road, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and assault causing harm in connection with the incident on Winetavern Street, in the city centre's south side on the morning of September 13 last year.

Garda Sergeant Niall Murphy had told Dublin District Court it happened when the injured party, a 41-year-old man, was walking his dog.

Mulkearn passed them and kicked the dog, but the pet owner challenged him.

Mulkearn "struck the injured party in the face", leaving him with a bleeding lip, the court heard.

The dog owner did not require medical attention.

Judge Treasa Kelly accepted jurisdiction for the case to be kept in district court and not sent forward to the circuit court, which can impose lengthier sentences.

She noted that the accused has also entered guilty pleas to other assault charges.

Defence solicitor Paddy McGarry asked the court today to grant an adjournment.

Forensic psychological services have sanctioned a psychiatric report on Mulkearn, but it is not ready, he explained.

Judge Kelly adjourned sentencing until January.

Mulkearn, who did not address the court, was remanded on continuing bail.

The defence had said earlier that he faced prosecutions for incidents over a short period last year in the Dublin 8 area.

He also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to two men at South Circular Road on September 14 and on August 21 at Harrington Street.

Guilty pleas were also entered to two other attacks on two other men, on September 8 and August 24, less serious assaults that did not result in physical injuries.

Both of them also occurred at Harrington Street.

He was pleading guilty to all matters and has not come to garda attention over recent months, the defence had said.

The court has also asked for a probation report on Mulkearn.

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Man (49) kicked dog and attacked pet's owner in unprovoked assault

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A JUDGE postponed sentencing a man for an unprovoked attack on a dog-walker and his pet in Dublin while a psychiatric report is compiled. idan Mulkearn (49) with an address at South Circular Road, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and assault causing harm in connection with the incident on Winetavern Street, in the city centre's south side on the morning of September 13 last year.

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Court appeal over autistic teen 'detained' for 50 days in emergency bed

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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/woman-loses-high-court-damages-claim-over-surgery-1.4701926

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Woman loses High Court damages claim over surgery

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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/woman-who-left-her-newborn-baby-in-a-bin-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-1.4701893?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fcrime-and-law%2Fcourts%2Fcircuit-court%2Fwoman-who-left-her-newborn-baby-in-a-bin-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-1.4701893

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Woman who left her newborn baby in a bin found guilty of manslaughter

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A 47-year-old man who admitted engaging in threatening or abusive behaviour outside a kiosk of the M8 toll plaza in Cork has been ordered to do 150 hours of community service.

Sergeant Gearóid Davis outlined the background to the incident involving Caoimheann O'Faolain of Tegan Court, Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

He pleaded guilty at Cork District Court to the public order offence of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, creating a risk of a breach of the peace.

Sgt Davis said: "On January 10, 2020, as a result of a call to Fermoy Garda Station, gardaí went to the toll plaza on the M8 at Watergrasshill, Co Cork, shortly before 6pm.

"One of the supervisors told gardaí that a motorist was refusing to pay the toll and was aggressive towards her.

"She said the man approached her window at the toll booth and had a stack of unpaid toll bills and asked for another one.

"She said she had to get a supervisor. He complained they should have a card machine and he began shouting at her saying he did not like her attitude."

The defendant said at the scene: "That's what all this about. I have loads of these. I don't have to pay."

Judge Olann Kelleher asked if there were some underlying issues for the defendant.

Defence solicitor Emma Leahy said there were no such issues. She said the accused had been in employment recently but was the victim of a very serious assault which caused him to leave London where he had been based.

In relation to the incident at the toll, Ms Leahy said: "Things got heated very quickly, he lost his temper."

Judge Olann Kelleher said the defendant could do 150 hours of community service instead of three months in prison. He had three previous convictions for engaging in threatening behaviour.

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Man who was abusive to M8 toll kiosk worker avoids jail

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A 47-year-old man who admitted engaging in threatening or abusive behaviour outside a kiosk of the M8 toll plaza in Cork has been ordered to do 150 hours of community service. Sergeant Gearóid Davis outlined the background to the incident involving Caoimheann O'Faolain of Tegan Court, Mucklagh, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

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An elderly Canadian woman who hurt her hip as she negotiated an ornamental timber bridge in an oriental restaurant has been awarded €100,000 by a High Court judge.

73-year-old Catherine McKinnon from Prince Edward Island was on a "bucket list" trip to Ireland tracing her Irish roots when the accident happened 10 years ago.

Mr Justice Michael Hanna said the injury suffered by Mrs McKinnon at Thai Orchid Restaurant, Navan, Co. Meath, has impacted very significantly on the pensioner. He accepted she was an active and involved person before the accident and that her entire life has been significantly altered because of the injuries.

"She is now greatly diminished in her mobility and independence. Her enjoyment of life has been substantially diminished," the judge said.

Retired teacher Catherine McKinnon, now aged 83 of North Wilshire, Prince Edward Island, Canada, had sued Frank Mullen, the owner of the Thai Orchid Restaurant, Metges Lane, off Kennedy Road, Navan, Co. Meath, as a result of the accident on June 1, 2011.

It was claimed Mrs McKinnon who was in Ireland with her two daughters and son fell heavily while traversing the ornamental bridge and the left side of her body struck the side of the bridge. The party were leaving the restaurant where they had had a meal on the last night of their holiday when the accident happened.

It was claimed there was an alleged failure to warn the woman of the risk of falling and an alleged failure to ensure the steps were adequately illuminated. The case was before the court for assessment of damages only after a judge had in 2013 given judgement to Mrs McKinnon in default of appearance by Mr Mullen.

Mr Justice Hanna said a remote hearing took place and Mr Mullen who represented himself appeared in person in court. The judge said it was most unfortunate that Mr Mullen, having got himself back on his feet as regards his business, then found himself closed down as a result of the pandemic.

But Mr Justice Hanna said in assessing damages he must be blind "to the means of the negligent party".

In her evidence, which she gave remotely from Canada to her counsel Barney Quirke SC instructed by Tiernan and Co solicitors, Mrs McKinnon said she was shocked and helped to her feet after the accident.

The party moved on to another location but as she walked into the next premises her left side gave way and she collapsed to the floor in pain. Mrs McKinnon was rushed to hospital where she needed a partial left hip replacement and she spent 12 days in hospital. A left shoulder injury was later diagnosed when she returned to Canada.

Her daughter Michelle said her mother had changed significantly since the accident. She had been a strong matriarch who had instigated the trip to Ireland but her adventurous spirit had now disappeared.

In the judgement published today, Mr Justice Hanna said the fracture to Catherine McKinnon's left lower limb is the more significant. He said it was and remains a serious injury and has given rise to considerable pain discomfort and has greatly debilitated Mrs McKinnon.

"The impact of this injury on Mrs McKinnon and her everyday living is permanent and will remain so. This situation will not alter or improve," the judge added.

Mr Justice Hanna awarded €50,000 for pain and suffering to date and another €50,000 for pain and suffering in the future.

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Canadian pensioner awarded €100k for fall on Thai restaurant's ornamental bridge

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An elderly Canadian woman who hurt her hip as she negotiated an ornamental timber bridge in an oriental restaurant has been awarded €100,000 by a High Court judge. 73-year-old Catherine McKinnon from Prince Edward Island was on a "bucket list" trip to Ireland tracing her Irish roots when the accident happened 10 years ago.

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Woman loses High Court damages claim over surgery

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Judge warns murder accused he will be excluded from own trial

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Laura Klepeisz

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Trial of Dubliner accused of murdering man in Kildare woods opens

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Philip Finnegan’s decapitated body found in shallow grave, Central Criminal Court hears

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Laura Klepeisz

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Couple who claim they were wrongfully removed from their home lose damages appeal against bank

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A couple who alleged they were wrongfully removed from their home in Killiney, Co Dublin, following a court possession order have lost an appeal over their damages actions against a bank.

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by Sean O Connor

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Return of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch shows that even the most clever and resourceful can run, but they can't hide

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Return of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch shows that even the most clever and resourceful can run, but they can't hide - Independent.ie

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by Sean O Connor

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Hotel guest who fell getting out of bath loses €60,000 injuries claim

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https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40716308.html

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Cork man who slipped getting out of hotel bath has €60k claim dismissed

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A 61-year-old Cork man, who fell while getting out of the bath in Scott's Hotel, Killarney, Co Kerry, more than five years ago, has lost a personal injuries damages claim for €60,000 against the hotel owners.

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https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40708469.html

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A financial adviser in Mallow who used his business to dupe people out of substantial sums of cash has been jailed for five years.

One of his victims inherited money which she planned to use to set her young family up for the future by clearing all of her mortgages but Mervyn Tanner persuaded her to invest it and now she is at a loss of €120,000 and still has her mortgage.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said there was a huge breach of trust by 46-year-old Mervyn Tanner of Buttery Court, Market Square, Mallow, County Cork, as he jailed him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

He pleaded guilty to several sample charges of defrauding people of money and forging documents in support of various frauds.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said, "Mervyn Tanner was a financial and mortgage advisor. He was in a position of trust. He was a person who many of the victims were entitled to rely on, rely on his probity and trustworthiness to use money they might give him for their benefit. He was singularly negligent in that role.

"It is at the higher end of dishonesty in a case of this type and for the amount of injured parties, the continuity of dealings and the fact of such a substantial breach of trust - the breach of trust in these cases is huge.

"He inveigled money out of these people. He put it to use in ways that are still not clear. People lost all - or a substantial part - of their money. There was all sorts of dishonesty about where they money was and when that would be repaid. It was repaid in small amounts whenever the pressure came on.

"This was happening one way or another from 2010 to 2015 and there appears to be a concentration of his behaviour around 2015 - at that stage the tiger had nearly resurrected itself. I don't know what the Celtic Tiger and his demise has to do with this case."

The judge said that in offering explanations to the guards and to the court the defendant, Mervyn Tanner, showed a lack of insight into his behaviour.

"This was never going to come right. It is gone. Most of these people are at a loss of very substantial sums of money. He used his business to dupe people out of substantial sums and there never was any real prospect of the money being paid back," the judge said.

Detective Garda James O'Reilly outlined the background to people who made investments through Mervyn Tanner and in some cases they were shown fraudulent documents.

One woman planned to use money she inherited on her brother's death to clear the family mortgage but Tanner persuaded her to do otherwise.

Another woman was defrauded of €6,200 as Tanner showed her false documents to make an investment look genuine. In another case he made no gain but presented forged documents purporting to show that he had funds to buy a €247,000 house in Glanmire. The illegality was spotted before there was any actual financial loss.

An investor was left at a loss of €42,000 which he gave to the accused man to purchase a property on North Main Street. The investor was told that the sale had fallen through but was left at a loss of €42,000 on various payments he had made to Tanner.

Finally, there was a fifth incident where a woman entrusted money with the accused and was left at loss of €5,000.

James O'Mahony defence senior counsel said that at one time the defendant had offices at Douglas and North Point Business Park - and in the latter outlet employed 30 people.

Following the financial crash he went into business in Mallow selling mortgages and life insurance policies.

"He got involved in arranging loans for people who would not have been otherwise able to get loans and they were at high interest rates over short periods," Mr O'Mahony SC said.

Det. Garda O'Reilly said, "Some of these people were not aware this was being used as private investments." Mr O'Mahony added, "But some of them were."

The defence senior counsel added, "The accused has not any trappings of wealth. He has not gone on expensive holidays, driving in Porches with expensive jewellery.

"He ended up lending money to people who could not pay it back - that does not mean he is not guilty, he has accepted responsibility for all these charges. But he ended up robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Laura Murphy, mother of three children, who was defrauded of €120,000 said: "In 2010 I inherited the sum of €218,000 from my brother's life insurance. This was a very difficult time for me and my family. Looking back I was feeling so vulnerable.

"I had dealings with Mervyn Tanner previously because he helped me and my brother get a mortgage on a house in Kanturk in 2006. Mervyn knew that I received money from my brother's passing and contacted me to give me advice on how to invest the money and advised me not to pay off the mortgage on my house which is what I intended to do.

"Whilst in a volatile state and still grieving my brother's passing, he advised me to invest the money in New Ireland and Aviva. Unfortunately, I trusted his advice and soon after he advised me to invest in private investments.

"In 2013 I started working for him and at that point I began to discover that there was something not right about Mervyn and his dealings. I now believe he was keeping me very close to have more money taken from me.

"I stopped receiving payments on time and cheques started bouncing. I then started looking for my money back and he always had a story as to how he would have it soon or that there was a big investment coming or something which never came. This has continued to the present day.

"The accused has pleaded guilty to taking €120,000 of my money. This amount of money would have meant so much to our family, it would have allowed us to pay off the house and feel some financial security. It is also a betrayal of my brother's memory - he wanted his money to be beneficial to me and my children.

"I feel Mr Tanner saw me at my lowest and took complete advantage of me. I can't believe a human being would do that. It had never crossed my mind until it was all too late.

"It is very difficult when you trust someone like him. At the start when I knew him he had a good reputation in Mallow. That is why I felt I could trust him. However, somewhere along the line this all changed and I feel like I was taken for a fool and he used me to gain money for himself.

"I felt ashamed and depressed. I suffer every day mentally since the realisation that I had been conned out of all that money. My children's futures were in jeopardy. I went through all the motions - anger, upset, confusion, betrayal. I had everything taken from me. Our lives continue to be affected as this money would have done so much financially for me and my family.

"I would like to thank the gardaí who were involved in this case... And my husband for his support and the support of After Crime Services for their assistance."

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Five year jail sentence for Cork financial adviser who used his business to dupe people out of money

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A financial adviser in Mallow who used his business to dupe people out of substantial sums of cash has been jailed for five years. One of his victims inherited money which she planned to use to set her young family up for the future by clearing all of her mortgages but Mervyn Tanner persuaded her to invest it and now she is at a loss of €120,000 and still has her mortgage.

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Meehan had offered to shoot Veronica Guerin himself, murder trial is told

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Mr Brian Meehan, a Dublin man who is accused of the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin, had offered to shoot Ms Guerin, …

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A civil engineer says he was defamed when a newspaper published a report on an uninsured driver convicted in the local court with the same name as him, a High Court jury has heard.

ichael Reilly (62), of Ballycullen, Mullinahone, Co Tipperary, is suing Iconic Newspapers Ltd, publishers of the Kilkenny People which published the article on February 9, 2016.

The paper denies defamation and says it was an entirely fair and accurate report of the court proceedings which also attracts legal privilege.

Frank Callanan SC, opening Mr Reilly's case, said the paper's report stated "Michael Reilly, Ballycullen, Mullinahone" had received a three-month suspended sentence at Kilkenny District Court for driving without insurance, fined €750 and banned from driving for six years.

This was not his client, counsel said, who is the only Michael Reilly in Ballycullen, Mullinahone.

It caused him and his family huge distress and also caused damage to his reputation, he said.

He was effectively described as a criminal and there was another Michael Reilly who was convicted and who was not Michael Reilly of Ballycullen, Mullinahone.

Counsel said his client was a professional person and the idea of driving without insurance has a particular stigma.

There is legal privilege attaching to court reports and the principles governing that privilege will be potentially significant in this case, particularly in relation to whether the address of Ballycullen, Mullinahone, was read out during the court proceedings or whether it was something picked up afterwards from a file by the journalist, he said.

In evidence, Mr Reilly told his counsel he had lived all his life in Mullinahone where everyone knows everyone else.

He was on a mini-break with his partner in France when he first became aware of the Kilkenny People report. He said he could not believe it at first and contacted his solicitor Mark Walsh in Ireland to check the report in the paper.

When he got home, there were incidents when he experienced hostility including once at Easter from a barman in a pub who asked him how come he was driving.

A month later during lunch at a restaurant he got a similar reception. He said remarks were made about how come he was driving without insurance and that "a cheap Merc will be up for sale soon".

He said: "Even people I know said to me if you were stuck for money why did you not contact me."

Asked by his counsel to explain the impact it had on his professional reputation, he said in the world he came from driving without insurance is considered very seriously and such people are "treated like pariahs".

He said neighbours make it very clear that behaviour is not expected and "though nobody stops you on the street to say they are not going to employ you because you are a law breaker, they just don't employ you".

He also said his brother "got comments" and his father, who was still alive at the time, was very distressed over it.

He said he had never in his life been convicted of any driving offences including getting a speeding ticket.

The court heard that through his solicitor he sought an apology and compensation for damage to his reputation. The paper offered to print certain versions of a clarification which were not acceptable and no compensation was offered.

The paper insisted it was a fair and accurate report. Its first clarification offered to say the report did not refer to well known civil engineer Michael Reilly but another Michael Reilly, also of Ballycullen, Mullinahone.

Mr Reilly told the court this was "a double slap in the mouth" because they were saying it was not Michael Reilly, the engineer, of Ballycullen, "when everyone knows there is only one Michael Reilly in Ballycullen".

"It was pure nonsense and it wasn't an apology".

Further correspondence followed between Mr Reilly's solicitor and the paper and legal proceedings were later brought.

The case continues before the jury and Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds.

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Civil engineer claims he was defamed by newspaper in court report about uninsured driver with the same name

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A civil engineer says he was defamed when a newspaper published a report on an uninsured driver convicted in the local court with the same name as him, a High Court jury has heard. ichael Reilly (62), of Ballycullen, Mullinahone, Co Tipperary, is suing Iconic Newspapers Ltd, publishers of the Kilkenny People which published the article on February 9, 2016.

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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/district-court/taxi-driver-fined-for-charging-dublin-airport-passenger-a-double-fare-1.4697679

Dominique Farrell

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Taxi driver fined for charging Dublin Airport passenger a double fare

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/03/kevin-lunney-irish-businessman-testifies-about-abduction-torture-dublin-court
Dominique Farrell

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An Irish business executive has testified about his abduction and torture by a gang that carved the letters of his company on his chest, a crime that shockedIreland.

Kevin Lunney told the special criminal court in Dublin on Thursday that the man who used a blade to slice the letters QIH into his skin told him it was to make sure he would remember the ordeal.

The 52-year-old director of Quinn Industrial Holdings was giving evidence in the trial of four men who have pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning him and causing him harm on 17 September 2019.

Lunney was abducted outside his home near Derrylin in County Fermanagh, put in a car boot and moved to a horsebox across the border. His attackers broke his leg, sliced his fingernails and face with a knife and doused him in bleach.

The attack was the most serious in a five-year campaign of intimidation targeting the companies and directors that now control a business portfolio built up by Seán Quinn, formerly Ireland's richest man. A local parish priest compared those behind the campaign to mafia-style "untouchables".

Lunney told the court he asked the gang members not to cut off his fingers and promised to do what they wanted. He said he was told that he and three other directors were to resign and to "drop all charges and injunctions", an apparent reference to two defamation cases, one in Northern Ireland, one in the Irish Republic.

"I said a number of times: 'Yes I will and I'll let the others know, just don't kill me, I'll do whatever you want,'" he said.

The four accused are Luke O'Reilly, 67, from County Cavan, Darren Redmond, 27, and Alan O'Brien, 40, both from Dublin, and a fourth man who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Lunney, a father of six, said he initially fought back and tried to resist abduction before being forced into a car boot, with one gang member saying: "We want to talk to you. We're not going to kill you, we want to talk to you."

One gang member told Lunney he had been watched for six weeks and that the gang knew details of his family's movement.

The gang poured a liquid on to his hands. "I knew it was bleach. I could feel it burning my fingers. I could smell it was bleach."

After a blow to Lunney's leg, one gang member asked: "Did it snap?" He said yes, but the gang was not convinced, so struck again until the leg broke. He was also hit another 12 to 20 times on his right side, being told "You'll resign" with each blow. Lunney was then cut in the face with a Stanley knife "from ear to chin, right to left", he told the court.

The trial is expected to last 12 weeks.

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Irish businessman testifies about his abduction and torture

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An Irish business executive has testified about his abduction and torture by a gang that carved the letters of his company on his chest, a crime that shockedIreland. Kevin Lunney told the special criminal court in Dublin on Thursday that the man who used a blade to slice the letters QIH into his skin told him it was to make sure he would remember the ordeal.

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Boy scalded by hot chocolate on Ryanair flight settles case for €20,000

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Husband of Anne Colomines found guilty of her murder

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This case was heavily covered and the media ensured that the public was well informed that Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all charges.

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Former US police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of African-American man George Floyd in a case that shocked the US, laying bare deep racial divisions.

Chauvin had pleaded not guilty to three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

#BREAKING Former police officer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of the second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter of George Floyd during an arrest last May | Read more: https://t.co/SbFG8U0r2f pic.twitter.com/8phrcG6jYK
- RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 20, 2021

A racially diverse jury of seven women and five men in the midwestern city of Minneapolis took less than two days at the end of a three-week trial to find the white officer guilty in unanimous decisions on all three charges he faced.

Chauvin, 45, could be handed decades behind bars for Mr Floyd's killing on 25 May last year.

Mr Floyd's death sparked protests against racial injustice around the world and is being seen as a landmark test of police accountability.

In an arrest captured on video, Mr Chauvin pushed his knee into the neck of Mr Floyd, who was handcuffed, for more than nine minutes outside the grocery shop where Mr Floyd had been accused of buying cigarettes with a fake $20 note.

The 12 sequestered jurors considered three weeks of testimony from 45 witnesses, including bystanders, police officials and medical experts, along with hours of video evidence in the most high-profile US case involving accusations of police misconduct in decades.

Chauvin, wearing a grey suit with a blue tie and white shirt as well as a light-blue facemask, nodded and stood quickly when the judge ruled that his bail was revoked.

He was taken out of the courtroom in handcuffs and placed in the custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff.

Derek Chauvin, right, pictured in the court yesterday

The case hinged on whether the jury believed the prosecution argument that Mr Chauvin used excessive, and therefore illegal, force that killed Mr Floyd.

The defence had countered that Mr Chauvin behaved as any "reasonable police officer" would, and sought to raise doubts about the cause of Mr Floyd's death, saying heart disease or even the exhaust fumes from the nearby police car may have been factors.
Read more:
Verdict a 'turning point in history' - Floyd lawyer
Key moments in Derek Chauvin trial
The jury was comprised of four white women, two white men, three black men, one black woman and two multiracial women, according to court records.

The court has promised to shield their identities until some time after the verdict. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill presided over the trial.

The name of #GeorgeFloyd is being chanted by crowds gathering outside the Minneapolis courthouse where #DerekChauvin has just been convicted. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/2eb4e3PUz3
- Brian O'Donovan (@BrianOD_News) April 20, 2021

Floyd family lawyer Ben Crump hailed the verdict as a landmark victory for civil rights that could be a springboard to legislation to reform police forces in their dealings with minorities.

"Painfully earned justice has finally arrived for George Floyd's family. This verdict is a turning point in history and sends a clear message on the need for accountability of law enforcement," Mr Crump tweeted.

"Justice for Black America is justice for all of America!"

GUILTY! Painfully earned justice has finally arrived for George Floyd's family. This verdict is a turning point in history and sends a clear message on the need for accountability of law enforcement. Justice for Black America is justice for all of America!
- Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) April 20, 2021

Outside the courthouse, a crowd of several hundred people erupted in cheers when the verdict was announced.

Chants of "George Floyd" and "All three counts" broke out. At George Floyd square in Minneapolis, the intersection where Mr Floyd was killed and is now named after him, people screamed, applauded and wept.

The site has since become a rallying point for racial justice protests.

People celebrate outside the court in Minneapolis after the verdict is announced

US President Joe Biden spoke with Mr Floyd's family yesterday "to check in with them and also share that the family was in his prayers", White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Earlier, Mr Biden had called for the "right" verdict in the trial.

"I'm praying the verdict is the right verdict. I think (it's)... overwhelming in my view," Mr Biden told reporters, noting that he was only speaking openly because the jury has been sequestered.

Mr Biden said the Floyd family were feeling "pressure and anxiety".

A Sheriff's vehicle enters the Hennepin County Government Centre where the court sat in Minneapolis

The courtroom drama played out before the eyes of the US as Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was shot dead in a Minneapolis suburb by a white policewoman who apparently mistook her gun for her Taser, and a 13-year-old boy who was killed by police in Chicago.

Mr Wright's killing triggered several nights of protests in Minneapolis, and ahead of the verdict in Chauvin's case, National Guard troops were deployed in the Minnesota city.

The courthouse was surrounded by high barricades and many downtown businesses boarded up their windows for fear of a repeat of the violent street clashes that unfolded last year between police in riot gear and protesters.

Three other former police officers - Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and J. Alexander Kueng - also face charges in connection with Mr Floyd's death.

They are to be tried separately later in the year.

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Chauvin convicted of all charges in George Floyd death

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Former US police officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of African-American man George Floyd in a case that shocked the US, laying bare deep racial divisions. Chauvin had pleaded not guilty to three charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

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An example of a civil court case.

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Couple accused of abducting their child released on bail

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Jury sworn in for trial of 38-year-old man accused of murdering man in Kildare five years ago

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Stephen Penrose is charged with the murder of Philip Finnegan in Kildare in 2016.

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North's High Court refuses stay on lawsuits against man alleged to be British spy Stakeknife

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Civil Case

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Cork University Maternity Hospital has apologised unreservedly to a nine-year-old girl for the life-changing injuries caused to her at the time of her birth.

The apology was read out in the High Court as Caitlin Twomey, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, settled her legal action with one of the highest interim settlements of €8 million. Damages in the case will be assessed when the case comes back before the court in 10 years' time.

Caitlin's counsel, Dr John O'Mahony SC with Cian O'Mahony BL, told the court the little girl has cerebral palsy, is unable to safely walk unaided and can only say some words. By the time she was seven years of age, the little girl had only two words: go and dad.

"She is profoundly disabled. She requires 24/7 care," Dr O'Mahony said. Counsel told the court there were "red flags" during labour which went unobserved and misunderstood and Caitlin suffered very serious brain damage and is profoundly disabled.

Liability in the case was admitted in August of this year.

A letter of apology from the Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) clinical director Professor John Higgins was read to the High Court.

Outside court the family solicitor Anne Marie Donnelly said it was a good day for Caitlin, her mother and family.

"It is disappointing that liability was denied to Caitlin's mother Michelle for a number of years and was only admitted approximately two months ago. This delay caused distress and anxiety to Michelle and her family," she said.

She added: " The apology received from CUMH for their failings in the care provided to Caitlin which led to her suffering these life-altering injuries is welcome." Ms Donnelly said Michelle Twomey has been nothing short of inspirational in the loving care given to her daughter each and every day since she was born.

"The court ruling today will enable Michelle to provide care to Caitlin in a sustainable manner and she can now access the various therapies which were previously unavailable to her," she added.

Caitlin Twomey, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, had through her mother Michelle Twomey sued the HSE over the circumstances of her birth at CUMH on December 13, 2011.

It was claimed there was a failure to act in a timely and appropriate manner in response to the signs of foetal distress which, it was claimed, were permitted to continue and to worsen.

It was further claimed there was a failure to take the necessary step of stopping the administering of syntocinon, a drug used to bring on labour, when the mother's contractions frequency was excessive and a failure to have regard to the abnormalities, including decelerations on the CTG trace, which monitors the baby's heartbeat.

There was also, it was alleged, a failure to summon a senior doctor and a failure to intervene to deliver the baby no later than 18.50. Caitlin was delivered at 19.59. but she was in poor condition and was blue and limp. She remained in the special care unit at CUMH until Christmas Eve.

Dr O'Mahony told the court the total ultimate value of Caitlin's case would be in the region of €55 million and the interim settlement for 10 years was one of the highest so far.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was a sad and tragic case. He praised the heroism of Michelle Twomey and her family for the care they give to Caitlin and said the girl's needs are considerable.

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organisation: cork university maternity hospital

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CUMH apologises as Cork girl, 9, settles birth injury case

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Cork University Maternity Hospital has apologised unreservedly to a nine-year-old girl for the life-changing injuries caused to her at the time of her birth. The apology was read out in the High Court as Caitlin Twomey, Ballincollig, Co. Cork, settled her legal action with one of the highest interim settlements of €8 million.

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Criminal case

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Man who raped niece as she babysat his children is jailed

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https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-40724907.html

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A €113,000 High Court award to a man who fell off his bicycle when he went over a broken concrete ramp overlapping a cattle grid has been overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Edward O'Riordan was 64 when the accident happened while he was out for a leisurely summer cycle near his home in Shannon, Co Clare, on August 3, 2014. He suffered a serious injury to his left ankle.

He sued Clare County Council and Response Engineering Ltd. In 2019, Mr Justice David Barniville, then of the High Court, awarded €140,000 but reduced it to €113,404, after finding Mr O'Riordan guilty of contributory negligence.

The court heard the cattle grid, part of the road to the factory of the synthetic diamond-materials manufacturer, De Beers, was built by the Shannon Development Authority whose functions, including responsibility for roads, were transferred to the council in 2004.

There was no evidence the council carried out a survey at the time of the transfer and nothing was done by the council to the cattle grid or a concrete ramp which broke away and created a one-inch drop which led to Mr O'Riordan's fall.

The council appealed the High Court decision and on Tuesday Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, on behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeal, "with considerable regret" allowed the appeal and overturned the award.

Mr Justice Noonan said it was impossible not to feel considerable sympathy for Mr O'Riordan who was engaging in a healthy leisure pursuit when an accident befell him which was largely not of his making and had permanent and serious repercussions for him. He said one instinctively feels that a remedy ought to be available for someone like Mr O'Riordan for the negligence of a public body.

However, the ancient rule of non-feasance - where a roads authority is not liable in a case like this - has been abolished in England where it originated but still holds sway in this jurisdiction, he said.

"Perhaps it is time for it to be re-evaluated, but such is now beyond the competence of the courts", he said.

Earlier, he said the legal authorities on non-feasance demonstrate that the rule concerning liability for non-feasance extends to all forms of civil liability and is not confined in its operation to causes of action founded on negligence as distinct from public nuisance.

The rule is often seen as anomalous, as it was in this case when it was in the High Court and the judge there found it unfair and perhaps even unconscionable in some respects, he said.

He said:

Therefore, for example, even in circumstances where a highway authority not only knows, or ought to have known, of a danger on the highway but has been repeatedly and explicitly informed of it, it remains the position that it has no liability for a failure to intervene, assuming of course it did not create the danger in the first place, he said.

Nor does a highway authority have any duty to warn because, as a previous judgment found, "travellers had to look out for themselves". The rule is so firmly entrenched in our law that nothing short of statutory intervention of the kind contained in the 1961 the Civil Liability Act, 1961 can dislodge it, he said.

However, 60 years since that Act was passed, the relevant section has not been commenced in law which speaks to its "huge significance for the Exchequer".

If anything, far from being reversed by statute, it was expressly preserved in the 1993 Roads Act which stated nothing in that Act affected the law in relation to liability for a road authority for failure to maintain a public road.

He said the issue of costs will be dealt with later if necessary but he urged the council, given the important point of principle in this case, not to seek the costs of these proceedings against Mr O'Riordan.

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Appeal court 'regretfully' overturns Clare man's €113k award for bicycle fall

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A €113,000 High Court award to a man who fell off his bicycle when he went over a broken concrete ramp overlapping a cattle grid has been overturned by the Court of Appeal. Edward O'Riordan was 64 when the accident happened while he was out for a leisurely summer cycle near his home in Shannon, Co Clare, on August 3, 2014.

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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/man-jailed-over-role-in-plot-to-extort-25-000-from-blameless-family-1.4704728

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Man jailed over role in plot to extort €25,000 from ‘blameless’ family

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Pair showed up at family’s home and falsely claimed son owed money over missing drugs

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Court overturns €113,000 award over fall from bike ‘with considerable regret’

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Council urged not to seek costs from Edward O’Riordan (64) due to point of principle in case

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Man found guilty of murdering daughter's partner while high on drugs

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Man jailed over role in plot to extort €25,000 from ‘blameless’ family

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Pair showed up at family’s home and falsely claimed son owed money over missing drugs

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Supreme Court to hear appeal against order requiring Traveller family to vacate lands

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Clare County Council obtained High Court injunction in 2019 for McDonaghs to remove caravans

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Man prescribed antipsychotic drug settles High Court action for €1.2m

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Man jailed over role in plot to extort €25,000 from ‘blameless’ family

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Pair showed up at family’s home and falsely claimed son owed money over missing drugs

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Criminal Court Report - Michael Turnbull

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Criminal Court Report - Michael Turnbull

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https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/drug-dealer-made-a-threat-to-burn-gardai-out-and-kill-them-40970058.html

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A DRUG dealer threatened gardaí that he knew their home addresses and he would "burn them out and kill them", a court heard.

rvydas Steponkus (24) also admitted multiple drug offences and claimed he got "sucked" into criminality as he did not have positive role models at home.

Judge David McHugh said the scope of the defendant's criminality was vast and he jailed Steponkus for 10 months.

The judge also imposed a second 10-month sentence suspended for two years.

The defendant, with an address Buirg An Rí Walk in Lucan, admitted threatening and abusive behaviour near his home on May 2, 2020.

A garda witness said Steponkus became verbally abusive when gardaí went to search him during an incident near his home.

He told gardaí he knew their addresses and that he would burn them out and kill them.

Steponkus also admitted multiple counts of possession of cannabis and cocaine as well as having the drugs for sale or supply.

Blanchardstown District Court heard gardaí obtained a warrant and searched his home on May 31, 2019.

During the search, cannabis worth €1,991 and cocaine worth €488 was found.

During a search of his home on July 27, 2019, cannabis worth €1,300 and cocaine worth €70 was found.

When gardaí searched his home on December 16, 2019, they found Steponkus sitting at the kitchen table and bagging up cannabis, worth €1,362.

Defence solicitor Simon Fleming said Steponkus' numerous offences showed a "shocking amount of criminality" and the defendant would have to live with the consequences of his behaviour.

However, Mr Fleming said Steponkus had not had the benefit of positive role models at home, and his father was serving a lengthy sentence for serious drugs offences.

Mr Fleming said that Steponkus lived in an area that had been blighted by criminality and the defendant got sucked up into it.

He said this would be the defendant's first time in prison, and he would be joining other relatives there.

Mr Fleming also said Steponkus had been living with his partner and grandmother and had not been involved in drugs since September 2020.

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Drug dealer made a threat to 'burn gardaí out and kill them'

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A DRUG dealer threatened gardaí that he knew their home addresses and he would "burn them out and kill them", a court heard. rvydas Steponkus (24) also admitted multiple drug offences and claimed he got "sucked" into criminality as he did not have positive role models at home.

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https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/grafton-street-shop-wants-500000-rent-cut-over-covid-closure-40965591.html

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The operator of a Grafton Street footwear and clothing store is asking the High Court to declare it has no liability for more than €500,000 in rent during 253 days of pandemic-ordered closures.

The Foot Locker store accepts the rent was only part paid to its landlord Percy Nominees Ltd for the lockdown days, but says the landlord should share some of the pain caused by the closures.

It claims the store is still suffering from low footfall and is now trading in a very poor location.

Foot Locker Retail Ireland Ltd seeks a declaration that, by reason of the government-ordered lockdown, it has been unable to trade from Grafton Street and therefore the lease between it and the landlord has been partially frustrated.

The rent on the store is €750,000 per year and Foot Locker only paid part of the rent during the lockdown.

Percy Nominees says it is "nothing more than a transparent and ill-judged attempt to unilaterally renegotiate the terms of the lease for the commercial benefit of Foot Locker".

Percy Nominees contends Foot Locker is obligated to pay rent in accordance with the terms of the lease. It is dependent on the rent roll from Grafton Street and other premises it leases to support its business operations and discharge its liabilities

Yesterday, John Lowry, Foot Locker Retail Ireland real estate director, told his counsel, Gavin Ralston SC, the number of days the store was directed to close by the Government was 243. The rent in dispute was just over €519,000, he said.

Under cross examination, Aidan Redmond SC asked Mr Lowry if a statement he made for this case about the lease having been frustrated meant it was at an end, witness replied it had been "temporarily frustrated".

Asked why Foot Locker offered part payment during the pandemic, he said he was attempting to come to some agreement with Percy Nominees as Foot Locker had done with every other landlord of its stores in Ireland. He accepted that by saying the lease had been frustrated that it conveyed the intention that Foot Locker would not trade from Grafton Street for the remainder of the lease, which lasts until 2025.

Mr Lowry said this was the position in June last year but now it does intend to trade until the end of the lease.

He said: "We are trading, albeit very badly". It was not like it used to be and is "a very poor location".

They were doing their best to trade but none of the high level of footfall and high-spending footfall envisaged by the Grafton Street location was there today, he said.

He agreed with counsel that none of those matters were relevant to the interpretation of the lease but "we believe the landlord should share some of the pain".

Mr Justice Brian O'Moore said he would hear an application today from Foot Locker to amend its statement of claim to include a claim for unjust enrichment by Percy Nominees.

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Grafton Street shop wants €500,000 rent cut over Covid closure

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The operator of a Grafton Street footwear and clothing store is asking the High Court to declare it has no liability for more than €500,000 in rent during 253 days of pandemic-ordered closures.

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Rhianne Kelly

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Former solicitor Michael Lynn has failed to get a High Court order prohibiting references to his forthcoming criminal trial in press reports of a separate civil case relating to an application to replace him as trustee of a Dublin apartment.

Mr Lynn (52) holds in trust the property at The William Bligh block of the Gasworks apartment complex in Barrow Street.

The civil case is due to be heard in early June while his criminal trial is expected to get a fresh date sometime after October.

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which took over property on which Mr Lynn held a mortgage deed/charge as trustee, wants to replace his name as trustee with one of their own solicitors for the purpose of giving effect to court orders which have been made over properties including the Gasworks apartment.

Mr Lynn asked the court initially to order that no references to the criminal charges and pending trial be made in court reports of the civil case because he believed it would be prejudicial to him getting a fair trial before a jury.

Ms Justice Siobhan Stack granted him a temporary order last Friday prohibiting reports of the civil matter from mentioning the criminal matter.

The case returned today when counsel for Mediahuis (formerly Independent News and Media), the Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Mirror, the Daily Mail and News Ireland, opposed the continuation of the order.

John Berry BL, for the DPP, who had been invited by the judge to make submissions on the matter, said he had no instructions regarding a reporting restriction in this case.

He said however there were two previous civil matters involving Mr Lynn before the court which the DPP had an involvement in.

In the first, the DPP's position was no reporting restriction was required but later the parties in that case agreed to adjourn the matter until after Mr Lynn's criminal trial.

In the second case, the DPP took the view that at that stage, when it appeared the criminal trial was imminent there was a real risk to the trial if the matter was published. A restriction order was granted in that case.

Mr Berry said in this case however it did not appear from press reports that the property here (the Gasworks) was not related to any of the properties within the ambit of Mr Lynn's criminal case. It was the case however, that a number of mortgages in the charges against him were obtained from Irish Nationwide which was subsumed by IBRC, he said.

Mr Lynn, who appeared by phone link during the remote video hearing, argued it was now his view that the reporting restriction should be more general given the DPP had not examined the papers in the civil case and it was not possible for her to analyse the likely impact on the criminal trial.

While the Gasworks property was not one of those related to the criminal charges, it was mortgaged through Irish Nationwide and it will form part of his defence in the criminal trial, he said.

Tom Murphy BL, for the Press organisations, said Mr Lynn had provided nothing which in some way would persuade the court the restriction was appropriate.

Ms Justice Stack said she was not going to continue the order in relation to the mere naming of Mr Lynn and nature of charges he is facing as he had not met the legal test for doing so.

The matter giving her most concern was a photo in the Irish Times accompanying the first report of the trustee replacement case in which Mr Lynn was pictured close-arm linked to two plain clothes gardaí and had all the appearances of being under arrest.

She did not think this photo met the legal test for prohibiting its publication on the basis it would lead to an unfair trial but she said she did not like the photo and would share the preference of the DPP that a photo other than that one be used.

She told Mr Lynn, who asked for a stay on her decision so he could appeal her decision, he would have to apply for that himself to the Court of Appeal.

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organisation: irish bank resolution corporation

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Former solicitor Michael Lynn fails to get reporting restriction in civil case

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Former solicitor Michael Lynn has failed to get a High Court order prohibiting references to his forthcoming criminal trial in press reports of a separate civil case relating to an application to replace him as trustee of a Dublin apartment.

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Rhianne Kelly

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Civil court report( Dianita Marunchenko)

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Civil court report( Dianita Marunchenko)

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High Court: Child to be returned to Poland despite claim that mother had court permission to relocate to Ireland

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The High Court has ruled that a child must be returned to Poland after she was taken to Ireland by her mother in August 2021. The father had made an application under the Child Abduction Regulations, claiming that he had no knowledge that his child had been removed from Poland. Delivering judgment i

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Criminal court report (Dianita Marunchenko)

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Criminal court report (Dianita Marunchenko)

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https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/high-court-dublin-court-had-jurisdiction-in-divorce-case-because-solicitor-husband-acted-in-superior-courts

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Written by:

The High Court has ruled that the Dublin Circuit Court was wrong to refuse to hear a divorce application on the basis that the husband, a solicitor, did not carry on his profession in the county.

The couple lived outside Dublin and the husband was based in the south-west of the State. As such, the man objected to jurisdiction under section 38(3) of the Divorce Act 1996.

Delivering judgment in the case, Mr Justice John Jordan stated that it would do a "significant injustice to the plain meaning" of section 38(3) if he upheld the refusal of jurisdiction.

As a solicitor in a "large firm" and working in the superior courts, the court held that the husband carried on his occupation in Dublin. Accordingly, the court allowed the appeal and granted the wife 75 percent of her costs of the appeal with no stay on execution.

Background

The couple married in Cork in November 2012. Divorce proceedings were issued by the wife in July 2021 in the Circuit Family Court in Dublin. During the proceedings, the husband claimed that the Dublin Circuit Court did not have jurisdiction under the Divorce Act 1996 to hear the application.

Section 38(3) of the 1996 Act stated that jurisdiction may be exercised by a judge of the Circuit "in which any of the parties to the proceedings ordinarily resides or carried on any business profession or occupation".

It was contended that the husband did not work in Dublin and, since the couple did not live in the jurisdiction, it was submitted that the application was improperly issued in the Dublin family courts. This submission was accepted by the trial judge, who struck out the wife's proceedings.

The wife brought an appeal against the ruling in the High Court. It was submitted that the husband was a solicitor in one of the large firms and in fact worked in Dublin. The wife relied on the husband's public professional profile which described his work in commercial litigation in the superior courts, including the Commercial Court which is based exclusively in Dublin.

It was also said that the husband worked as a tutor in the Law Society, although this was occasional work which only yielded about €2,000 per year.

As such, the wife argued that section 38(3) conferred jurisdiction on the Dublin Circuit Court to hear the case.

High Court

In an ex tempore decision delivered in April 2022 but only published this week, Mr Justice Jordan held that the Dublin court did have jurisdiction to hear and determine the divorce application.

The court accepted that the husband's internet profile was designed to generate business and good publicity for himself, but nonetheless it laid out his experience in judicial review, injunctions, commercial disputes and personal injury actions.

The court held that the reference to the superior courts and to the Commercial Court was significant because these courts were based in Dublin on a permanent basis, apart from occasional provincial sittings. It was also noted that the work for the Law Society was very minimal, but it was still work that was based in Dublin.

As such, the court held that the husband carried on his profession in Dublin, which conferred jurisdiction to the courts in that area. In reality, it was a "very straightforward" provision and it would be an injustice to say that he did not work in Dublin if his practice was based on Superior Court work, the court said.

The court commented that it could appreciate the "mischief that might be caused if litigants were to set about forum shopping and trying to find the most beneficial venue for proceedings and using for that purpose a tangential or very minor connection with the jurisdiction chosen in terms of the business profession or occupation of the respondent". If jurisdiction was asserted on a tenuous basis, the court may strike out the proceedings to prevent abuse of process.

However, this was not in issue here. While the husband was based in the south-west, he worked in Dublin in the superior courts. As such, the Circuit Court was wrong to decline to hear the matter.

On the issue of costs, the court awarded 75 per cent of the costs of the appeal to the wife. The husband requested a stay on the execution of the costs order until the conclusion of the proceedings, but this was refused by the court. It was held that the appeal arose out of the "misconceived objection" and "should not have occurred". Accordingly, liability for the costs of the appeal would arise on the conclusion of the adjudication process.

Conclusion

The court held that the Dublin Circuit Court had jurisdiction to hear and determine the divorce application on the basis that the husband carried on his profession in Dublin.

M v. M [2022] IEHC 530

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High Court: Dublin court had jurisdiction in divorce case because solicitor husband acted in superior courts

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The High Court has ruled that the Dublin Circuit Court was wrong to refuse to hear a divorce application on the basis that the husband, a solicitor, did not carry on his profession in the county. The couple lived outside Dublin and the husband was based in the south-west of the State.

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https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/crime/irish-mother-jailed-pouring-boiling-28177041

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(Image: Google Maps)

A knife-wielding mother who "drenched" her infant son in boiling water has been jailed for seven years.

Passing sentence yesterday at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice David Keane said one of the aggravating factors was the "dreadful injuries" perpetrated on her 20-month-old son.

The court heard that the infant had sustained 18% total body surface area scald burns to his face and upper body, which has left him with permanent scarring.

Read More : Dad-of-seven stabbed to death at funeral issued video pleading for no violence

The judge commended the social care worker who was falsely imprisoned by the woman on her "remarkable presence of mind and courage" in protecting the woman's two boys and said there could be little doubt her response averted an "even greater tragedy".

He accepted that the accused was suffering with a mental disorder at the time and that she had a mild intellectual disability. The court was previously told that the defence of insanity was not available to the woman.

At her sentencing hearing last July, the court heard a victim impact statement from the social worker where she said that she is kept awake at night by the "vivid images" of the tot's skin peeling from his "raw and pink" face and his high pitched screams.

The social worker had barred a door to try and prevent the mother getting close to the children and later placed herself between her and her two boys before carrying them to safety, the court had also heard.

The accused woman, who can't be named, was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder of her two sons, then 20-month-olds, on October 9, 2019 at her home. She failed in a bid to have the attempted murder charges against her dismissed last year.

Mr Justice Keane said the accused had been diagnosed with recurrent depressive disorder, which she is currently in remission for and a minor intellectual disability.

She had also been prescribed antipsychotic and anti-depressive medication.

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Irish mother jailed for pouring boiling water over baby son in disturbing case

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A knife-wielding mother who "drenched" her infant son in boiling water has been jailed for seven years. Passing sentence yesterday at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice David Keane said one of the aggravating factors was the "dreadful injuries" perpetrated on her 20-month-old son.

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Eibhlín McFadden -Criminal Court Report 

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Eibhlín McFadden -Criminal Court Report 

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https://www.thejournal.ie/michael-carroll-special-criminal-court-attempted-murder-5820108-Jul2022/

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Man to go before Special Criminal Court charged with three attempted murders

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https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2022/0525/1301179-galway-circuit-civil-court/

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Legal representatives for Galway City Council have consented to a judgment, with damages of €60,000, in a case taken by an employee of the local authority.

Galway Circuit Civil Court was told Seamus Geoghegan's case related to bullying and harassment, after he made a protected disclosure about alleged wrongdoing.

The court heard there was an ongoing criminal investigation relating to the plaintiff's claims.

During the brief hearing this afternoon, Mr Geoghegan was represented by solicitor Evan O'Dwyer, with Damian Doyle representing the City Council.

When the 39-year-old's personal injury case was called, John Hogan BL, for the Council, told Judge Eoin Garavan that he had been given instructions consenting to judgment.

Mr Geoghegan's Barrister, Michael O'Connor described this as "an extraordinary turn of events", akin to a "complete collapse of the scrum".

He said it was a case with far more complexities than a personal injury summons and briefly outlined how his client had made a protected disclosure "about machinery that was stolen".

Mr O'Connor said equipment being bought by the local authority was coming into a council depot in Sandy Road in Galway "and going out as quick as it came in".

Judge Eoin Garavan said the best outcome for any plaintiff was the maximum personal injury award the Circuit Civil Court could make. He entered judgment for Mr Geoghegan for the sum of €60,000, plus costs, to include all reserved and discovery costs.

Mr O'Connor said his client had been vindicated after reporting "bad behaviour about equipment going missing" to his supervisors.

Mr Hogan said the plaintiff was an ongoing employee with the local authority and that it wished him all the best. He said Galway City Council was very happy to have the matter concluded.

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Galway City Council employee wins damages in civil case

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Legal representatives for Galway City Council have consented to a judgment, with damages of €60,000, in a case taken by an employee of the local authority. Galway Circuit Civil Court was told Seamus Geoghegan's case related to bullying and harassment, after he made a protected disclosure about alleged wrongdoing.

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Written by:

The High Court has refused an application for well-charging relief by a company seeking to rely on a registered lien as security for loans advanced after 31 December 2009. In so ruling, the court held that the present case was "indistinguishable" from the judgment in Promontoria (Oyster) DAC v. Fox [2022] IEHC 97.

The plaintiff had sought to distinguish the Fox judgment by arguing that the borrower had expressly agreed to deposit the land certificate as security for present and future loans which was sufficient to create an equitable mortgage.

However, the court did not accept this submission, stating that the contractual intention of the parties could not prevail over the amended statutory scheme under the Registration of Title Act 2006.

Background

The defendant had previously entered into a loan agreeement with Ulster Bank Ireland Limited, in which the defendant was registered as full owner of lands in County Roscommon. A lien was registered in favour of the bank as a burden on the land on 31 December 2009 and it was assumed that the land certificate had previously been deposited with the bank. The loans were later assigned by the bank to the plaintiff, Promontoria (Oyster) DAC in 2016.

Due to the operation of the Registration of Title Act 2006, no new equitable mortgages could be created after 31 December 2009 by way of the deposit of a land certificate. Further, all existing liens which were not registered were extinguished from this date.

In February 2012, Ulster Bank granted three loan facilities to the defendant totalling €450,000. The defendant did not keep up repayments and demand letters were sent in 2017 and 2018. Promontoria later issued well-charging proceedings against the defendant on foot of the 2012 facilities and the registered lien.

In a modular hearing, the parties made submissions to the High Court on whether the proceedings were governed by the judgment in Fox, where it was held that a registered lien could not be relied on as security for loans advanced after 31 December 2009.

The plaintiff attempted to distinguish Fox on the basis that the defendant had expressly agreed to deposit the land certificate as security in respect of present and future loans. As such, it was said that the security covered the loans from 2012 due to this contractual promise. Further, it was submitted that an equitable mortgage could be created by an agreement to provide security, as occurred in this case.

Further, the plaintiff submitted that, prior to the commencement of the 2006 Act, the bank would have the benefit to avail of "tacking". Tacking was a principle where a mortgagee who makes further advances to a borrower after a mortgage was created is entitled to rely on the date of the initial mortgage to establish priority over another mortgage created in favour of a third party. It was submitted that the court was obliged to avoid an interpretation of the Act which would result in the loss of this benefit under the double construction rule.

High Court

Considering whether a contractual promise or pledge for the lien to cover future loans, the court accepted that the factual position was different from Fox insofar as the deposit of the land certificate was expressly intended to cover future advances. However, the court held that this was not relevant to the legal analysis.

In Fox, the court held that contractual intention could not prevail over the statutory scheme of ending the informal mechanism of creating security via a deposit of a land certificate. It was held that the present submissions were "simply another version of the argument rejected in Fox " and the present case was therefore governed by that decision. The equitable mortgage in this case had been extinguished by the 2006 Act and the 2012 loan facilities were governed by the new statutory regime, the court held.

On the double construction rule, the court noted that an Act or legislative provision would not be declared to be invalid where it was possible to construe it in accordance with the Constitution of Ireland ( East Donegal Co-Operative Livestock Mart Ltd v. Attorney General [1970] I.R. 317). The court also noted that the plaintiff relied on the possibility of tacking, but there were in fact no further advances or intervening charges in the case. Rather, the plaintiff referred to the potential to rely on tacking and claimed that it would be an unjust attack on a valuable property right if the plaintiff could not avail of tacking.

The court held: "The fallacy underlying these submissions is that they seek to equate the discontinuance of a potential benefit under the previous legal regime with the expropriation of an existing or vested property right." It could not be said that the bank had acquired a property right prior to the legislative amendments.

The fact that that amendments which governed future lending might be less favourable than the previous regime did not result in unconstitutionality. New legislation frequently altered the legal positions of parties, the court said. Further, existing lending was safeguarded by section 73 of the 2006 Act which allowed for the conversion of an equitable interest.

Conclusion

The court held that the present case was indistinguishable from the Fox judgment and refused the application for well-charging relief.

Promontoria (Oyster) DAC v. Kean [2022] IEHC 526

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High Court: Well-charging application refused despite express provision that land certificate deposit would cover future loans

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The High Court has refused an application for well-charging relief by a company seeking to rely on a registered lien as security for loans advanced after 31 December 2009. In so ruling, the court held that the present case was “indistinguishable” from the judgment in Promontoria (Oyster)

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THE trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch over the gangland murder of David Byrne at Dublin's Regency Hotel is "all systems go" to start next week, a court has heard.

he trial had been due to open last week but was delayed after co-accused Jonathan Dowdall pleaded guilty to facilitating the 2016 killing, and made himself available as a state witness.

Today, the Special Criminal Court was told Mr Hutch was anxious to proceed and it was intended to "backload" new prosecution evidence to the later stages of the trial.

David Byrne, a Kinahan gang member, was shot dead when armed and masked men disguised as garda ERU members stormed the Regency and opened fire during a boxing weigh-in on February 5, 2016. His murder sparked the ongoing Kinahan-Hutch feud.

Mr Hutch (58), of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin is charged with murdering the father-of-two.

Co-accused Paul Murphy (59) of Cabra Road, Cabra, and Jason Bonney (50) of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, are accused of facilitating the murder by providing access to vehicles to the criminal organisation who carried it out.

All three deny the charges.

Days before the trial had been due to start, former Sinn Féin councillor Jonathan Dowdall (44) and his father Patrick Dowdall (65) entered pleas of guilty to facilitating Mr Byrne's murder by making a room at the hotel available for a criminal organisation.

Following the development, Mr Hutch's barrister Brendan Grehan SC said last week the additional prosecution evidence had led to a "fundamental reappraisal of the defence strategy."

Today, prosecutor Sean Gillane SC said a significant amount of work had gone into gathering material which had been disclosed to the defence. A "relatively small" amount of material was yet to be disclosed, he said, and "we might be able to open the case" next week.

Mr Grehan said "very substantial progress" had been made on disclosure as a result of new evidence. The defence was satisfied with the endeavours being made and that the remaining disclosure was being attended to.

"The accused is anxious for the trial to proceed," he said. "From our point of view it's all systems go."

He said he had spoken to Mr Gillane about scheduling and this was a large part of the reason the trial could start next week, with the new evidence to be "backloaded" while other matters were progressed in the meantime.

Asked by Ms Justice Tara Burns how long the trial would take, Mr Grehan could not say if it would finish by Christmas. He did not know how long the latter part of the trial would take and there would be "substantial cross-examination," he said.

Judge Burns, sitting with Judges Sarah Berkeley and Grainne Malone, adjourned the case to next Tuesday.

Mr Hutch, wearing a navy blazer and open-necked white shirt, sat alongside his two co-accused in the dock and was not required to address the court. David Byrne's mother, Sadie, sat in the public gallery watching the proceedings.

Last week, a pre-sentence hearing for the Dowdalls was told Patrick Dowdall booked a room at the Regency the day before the shooting, and he and his son Jonathan handed the key cards over to a criminal gang member. One of the raiders, a man identified as Kevin Murray, who had paramilitary connections, was seen using the room before the attack.

The Dowdalls were not part of a crime gang, had not been aware how the room was to be used and did not benefit from their involvement, their lawyers said. Patrick Dowdall made a "catastrophic error of judgement" and his son was the "author of his own misfortune", the court heard.

Jonathan Dowdall had initially been charged with Mr Byrne's murder but that charge was withdrawn by the prosecution after he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence.

Their sentencing will take place next Monday.

Gerry Hutch was returned to Ireland from Spain in September 2021 to face trial here after losing a final appeal against his extradition.

He was arrested on the Costa del Sol by the Guardia Civil in August last year on foot of a warrant issued in Ireland and has been in custody since.

A nephew of Mr Hutch, Patrick Hutch (28), walked free from the Special Criminal Court in 2019 after charges against him over the Regency shooting were dropped by the State. Patrick Hutch of Champions Avenue, Dublin 1, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Byrne and not guilty to possession of firearms.

The Regency Hotel, on the Swords Road in north Dublin, has since been renamed the Bonnington.

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'All systems go' for trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch over Regency Hotel murder

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THE trial of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch over the gangland murder of David Byrne at Dublin's Regency Hotel is "all systems go" to start next week, a court has heard. he trial had been due to open last week but was delayed after co-accused Jonathan Dowdall pleaded guilty to facilitating the 2016 killing, and made himself available as a state witness.

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https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40973120.html

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Families now have to spend longer in court fighting medical negligence cases than 10 years ago, with some cases taking as many as 5.4 years to process, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) report shows.

The average time needed to finalise a clinical claim has increased from 4.26 years to 4.97 years or by 17% between 2012 and 2021.

Maternity services-related claims can take the longest, with the average time increasing by 39% from almost four years in 2012 to almost 5.4 years in 2021.

The report also found surgery-related claims took on average 5.25 years to process, an increase of 59% since 2012.

Public medical facilities are indemnified by the state, and claims are managed by the State Claims Agency (SCA) through two schemes; one for clinical claims and one for general.

The number of active cases almost doubled from 5,755 in 2012 to 11,408 in 2021.

The state's estimated outstanding liability for claims saw a fourfold increase between 2012 and 2021, from €1.1bn to €4.5bn.

"At the end of 2021, CIS (Clinical Indemnity Scheme) claims comprised almost 32% (3,626) of total claims, but accounted for over 75% (€3.4bn) of the total estimated outstanding liability," the report states.

The report also shows 75% of incidents leading to claims were not recorded on the HSE's reporting system (NIMS) before the claim was made, between 2017 and 2021.

Over one-fifth of the incidents (21%), should have been reported, they found after investigation.

They found in 22% of incidents there was not enough information to say whether it should have been recorded and 32% of incidents were not known to the relevant authority.

Michael Boylan Litigation partner Ciara McPhillips said there are many reasons why a case might take a long time, including this lack of reporting.

"Only 25% of the cases are in NIMS, so there is no prior notification of the claim, and likely no internal hospital inquiry that might give an initial steer of where things went wrong or if they went wrong" she said.

Recent changes to how settlements are paid, periodic payments orders legislation, were supposed to ensure for people with catastrophic injuries their case could be settled over a lifetime.

"But because it was linked to the consumer price index, as opposed to wage inflation which makes up the vast majority of any settlement, it was described by a High Court Judge as a 'dead letter'," she said.

"We had two cases this year which were on their fifth time before the court. Now that is not the SCA's fault, there should be changes by the legislature on that."

The report indicated delays can include the speed at which families and their legal teams proceed, which Ms McPhillips was surprised by.

"It's obviously never in the plaintiff's interest for these things to take this length of time, so I am surprised by that," she said.

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Medical negligence court cases taking almost five years to resolve

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Families now have to spend longer in court fighting medical negligence cases than 10 years ago, with some cases taking as many as 5.4 years to process, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) report shows. The average time needed to finalise a clinical claim has increased from 4.26 years to 4.97 years or by 17% between 2012 and 2021.

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https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40980122.html

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It's "all systems go" for the trial next week of Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch, who is accused of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, his lawyers have told the Special Criminal Court.

The court heard on Monday morning that the trial is expected to open before the court next Tuesday, October 18. Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Hutch, told the non-jury court today that the "newer evidence" in the case will be "back loaded" and that there will be "substantial cross-examination" at the "latter part of the trial".

When asked by presiding judge Ms Justice Tara Burns about the length of the trial, Mr Grehan said he was not in a position to say whether the trial will finish by Christmas but that it was "quite possible" it would. "If it doesn't finish by Christmas, I don't suspect that it will last many weeks after that," he added.

Last week, lawyers for Mr Hutch told the three-judge court that they had been forced to carry out a "fundamental reappraisal" of their trial strategy after being served with significant new evidence. The 59-year-old's trial, which was due to get underway last Monday at the non-jury court, has now been adjourned until next Tuesday to allow the defence to consider "a relatively small amount" of outstanding disclosure.

Mr Grehan, for Mr Hutch, told the non-jury court last Monday that his client has been in custody for over a year and that he was anxious to proceed with his trial. "He was ready to proceed today but matters developed late last week and we were served with very significant evidence which has resulted in a fundamental reappraisal of the defence strategy," he added.

Mr Hutch was present in court for today's brief hearing, where he sported a full mane of grey hair and a pair of headphones. He wore a suit jacket, a white open-neck shirt and dark trousers. Sadie Byrne, the mother of David Byrne, was also in court to hear when the proceedings would go ahead.

At the outset of today's brief hearing, Sean Gillane SC, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), said a significant amount of work had gone into the "gathering of material" last week, which had been disclosed to the defence. "There is a relatively small amount still to be disclosed and we hope to do that today," he added.

Mr Gillane suggested that the three-judge court list the matter for 2pm next Monday and said that he might be in a position to open the case then. In reply, Mr Grehan said that "very substantial progress" had been made on the disclosure process and the service of "new evidence". He said there was still "outstanding" material, which was being attended to.

Mr Grehan stressed that Mr Hutch was anxious for the case to proceed and from their point of view it was "all systems go for next Monday". However, Ms Justice Burns said that next Monday would not work as one of the members of the court has work commitments that day and suggested that they sit on Friday or next Tuesday if there were matters to address before the trial began.

Mr Gillane and Mr Grehan both agreed that the trial could start next Tuesday. Mr Grehan said he was not inclined to trouble the court "looking for rulings" but that if he had to "trouble the court" he would.

Mr Grehan also asked the court if they would permit his legal team to consult with their client in the Criminal Courts of Justice building today, which was acceded to. Ms Justice Burns told the parties that if the trial was to run past Christmas then perhaps "arrangements" could be made until the early part of January.

Ms Justice Burns, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone, adjourned the trial until next Tuesday at 11am and said that it might be necessary to revisit the "court hours" as time had been lost.

Last week, Mr Gillane told the three-judge court that that there had been "some developments" in the Regency hotel trial as the second and fifth accused men on the indictment had taken a "certain course" and their sentencing had been adjourned.

Mr Gillane said a nolle prosequi could be entered against Jonathan Dowdall on count two on the indictment meaning that the State will not be proceeding with the murder charge against the former Dublin city councillor. Jonathan Dowdall (44) - a married father of four with an address at Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7 - was due to stand trial last Monday for Mr Byrne's murder alongside Mr Hutch but has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of facilitating the shooting at the Special Criminal Court.

Jonathan Dowdall's father Patrick Dowdall (65), also of Navan Road, Cabra, Dublin 7, also pleaded guilty to facilitating the murder of David Byrne (34) last week.

Last week, Jonathan Dowdall and his father Patrick Dowdall pleaded guilty to participating in or contributing to activity intending to or being reckless as to whether such participation or contribution could facilitate the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit the murder of David Byrne, by making a room available at the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, for that criminal organisation or its members, within the State on February 4, 2016.

In addition, Mr Gillane told the court last week that there had been "a further development" in the service of additional evidence to the defence and that it was proper "for the case to go back to" today.

Mr Hutch, last of The Paddocks, Clontarf, Dublin 3, is charged with the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on February 5, 2016.

Mr Hutch's two co-accused - Paul Murphy (59), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co. Dublin, and Jason Bonney (50), of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13, are both charged with participating in or contributing to activity intending to or being reckless as to whether such participation or contribution could facilitate the commission of a serious offence by a criminal organisation or any of its members, to wit the murder of David Byrne, by providing access to individual motor vehicles to that criminal organisation or its members, within the State on February 5, 2016.

The three accused men are due to stand trial at the Special Criminal Court next week. David Byrne (34), from Crumlin, was shot dead at the hotel on the Swords Road in Dublin in February 2016 after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí, stormed the building, which was hosting a boxing weigh-in at the time.

On September 29, 2021, Mr Hutch appeared before an out-of-hours sitting of the non-jury Special Criminal Court charged with the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on the Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on February 5, 2016. Mr Hutch was extradited from Spain after his final appeal against extradition to Ireland was rejected by a Spanish Appeals Court on September 14. He was being held in a Madrid prison.

Mr Hutch has been in custody since being arrested in a restaurant in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol in Spain on August 12, 2021, by the Guardia Civil. A search for him began in April 2021 after Ireland issued a European Arrest Warrant in connection with the attack on the Regency Hotel.

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'Quite possible' trial of Gerry Hutch for Regency Hotel murder will finish by Christmas

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It's "all systems go" for the trial next week of Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch, who is accused of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, his lawyers have told the Special Criminal Court. The court heard on Monday morning that the trial is expected to open before the court next Tuesday, October 18.

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Taxi driver fined for charging Dublin Airport passenger a double fare

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A man who showed a "callous disregard" by sexually assaulting his former partner twice has been handed a prison sentence of 11½ years.

The 41-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect the anonymity of the victim, was on the sex offenders register for a previous sexual assault when this offence took place.

The man was convicted of rape and anal rape at his apartment in Co Laois in August 2016 following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last March. He was acquitted of charges of false imprisonment and making a threat to kill.

The man had pleaded not guilty to all the charges and does not accept the verdict of the jury.

He has a number of previous convictions including assault of his partner in February 2016 and the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in 2007.

Imposing sentence on both counts of rape on Monday, Justice Kerida Naidoo said there had been a "significant breach of trust" as the accused had attacked the woman at a place she would have considered home.

Justice Naidoo handed the accused a custodial sentence of 13½ years, with the final two years suspended on strict conditions backdated to March 28th, 2022.

'Terrified, afraid and in shock'

The court had previously heard that the man raped the woman twice in his apartment in a town in Co Laois on August 16th, 2016. The couple were in a relationship at that time and the woman had recently given birth to their child.

Following a meeting with a social welfare officer, the accused asked the woman to go to bed with him, saying he was tired. She refused and he grabbed her, taking her to the bedroom where he raped her.

The woman told gardaí that she said to him: "No stop doing this, you know I don't want this", but he continued to rape her.

The woman said she was horrified when she realised what the man was doing and "she froze a little".

She said she felt terrified, afraid and in shock. The woman fought back and tried to push the accused away, but ran out of energy to continue.

The woman later called gardaí from her own apartment.

A medical report recorded that some swabs could not be taken due to the injuries sustained by the woman. Bruising to her back and neck and marks on her left shoulder consistent with a bite mark were also recorded.

Voluntary statement

The accused made a voluntary statement to gardaí at the time.

Following his arrest in March 2017, the man claimed the sexual activity was consensual. He also said the woman was making a false complaint to obtain sole custody of their child.

Justice Naidoo said he accepted the prosecution's argument that the accused's previous convictions for assaulting his partner and sexually assaulting another young woman were aggravating factors.

The accused had showed a "callous disregard" for the victim by raping her for a second time, Justice Naidoo said, which was an additional aggravating factor.

The woman had suffered physical harm and injuries as a result of the incident.

Justice Naidoo set a headline sentence of 10 years in relation to the count of rape and 13½ years for the count of anal rape. He said the court did not accept a claim by the defence that the meeting with a social welfare officer should be considered as a mitigating factor.

Justice Naidoo said the mitigating factors "were not very strong" as there was no guilty plea or expressions of remorse. However, he noted that the accused did offer some co-operation to gardaí.

The man also has a history of depression and has a minor intellectual disability, the court heard. Justice Naidoo said there is no evidence to suggest the defendant has a low ability to discern right and wrong.

A probation report concluded that the accused is at medium risk of re-offending.

A psychological assessment and the probation report stated the accused had been the victim of sexual abuse himself as a child, though gardaí do not have a record of any complaint.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline, or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.

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Laois man jailed for sexually assaulting his former partner | BreakingNews.ie

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A man who showed a "callous disregard" by sexually assaulting his former partner twice has been handed a prison sentence of 11½ years. The 41-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect the anonymity of the victim, was on the sex offenders register for a previous sexual assault when this offence took place.

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Families now have to spend longer in court fighting medical negligence cases than 10 years ago, with some cases taking as many as 5.4 years to process, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) report shows.

The average time needed to finalise a clinical claim has increased from 4.26 years to 4.97 years or by 17% between 2012 and 2021.

Maternity services-related claims can take the longest, with the average time increasing by 39% from almost four years in 2012 to almost 5.4 years in 2021.

The report also found surgery-related claims took on average 5.25 years to process, an increase of 59% since 2012.

Public medical facilities are indemnified by the state, and claims are managed by the State Claims Agency (SCA) through two schemes; one for clinical claims and one for general.

The number of active cases almost doubled from 5,755 in 2012 to 11,408 in 2021.

The state's estimated outstanding liability for claims saw a fourfold increase between 2012 and 2021, from €1.1bn to €4.5bn.

"At the end of 2021, CIS (Clinical Indemnity Scheme) claims comprised almost 32% (3,626) of total claims, but accounted for over 75% (€3.4bn) of the total estimated outstanding liability," the report states.

The report also shows 75% of incidents leading to claims were not recorded on the HSE's reporting system (NIMS) before the claim was made, between 2017 and 2021.

Over one-fifth of the incidents (21%), should have been reported, they found after investigation.

They found in 22% of incidents there was not enough information to say whether it should have been recorded and 32% of incidents were not known to the relevant authority.

Michael Boylan Litigation partner Ciara McPhillips said there are many reasons why a case might take a long time, including this lack of reporting.

"Only 25% of the cases are in NIMS, so there is no prior notification of the claim, and likely no internal hospital inquiry that might give an initial steer of where things went wrong or if they went wrong" she said.

Recent changes to how settlements are paid, periodic payments orders legislation, were supposed to ensure for people with catastrophic injuries their case could be settled over a lifetime.

"But because it was linked to the consumer price index, as opposed to wage inflation which makes up the vast majority of any settlement, it was described by a High Court Judge as a 'dead letter'," she said.

"We had two cases this year which were on their fifth time before the court. Now that is not the SCA's fault, there should be changes by the legislature on that."

The report indicated delays can include the speed at which families and their legal teams proceed, which Ms McPhillips was surprised by.

"It's obviously never in the plaintiff's interest for these things to take this length of time, so I am surprised by that," she said.

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Medical negligence court cases taking almost five years to resolve

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Families now have to spend longer in court fighting medical negligence cases than 10 years ago, with some cases taking as many as 5.4 years to process, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) report shows. The average time needed to finalise a clinical claim has increased from 4.26 years to 4.97 years or by 17% between 2012 and 2021.

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Criminal Court Case Report - Dnyaneshwari Katkar

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Criminal Court Case Report - Dnyaneshwari Katkar

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Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's second criminal trial over the alleged sexual assaults of women, at least one occurring 18 years ago, is set to take place in Los Angeles this week.

Jury selection begins Monday.

The start of the Los Angeles criminal trial comes five years after the first stories exposing his illicit actions against women were first published by The New York Times and The New Yorker. Those stories also helped the #MeToo movement expand, eventually taking down other powerful men in Hollywood and beyond.

The 70-year-old Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence tied to his 2020 conviction in New York for charges of criminal sexual act and rape in the third degree.

The Los Angeles trial is significant, however, as Weinstein is in the process of appealing his New York conviction. If found guilty, the Los Angeles verdict could add decades to his prison time. But if his New York appeal is successful, the Los Angeles verdict could be the only substantial reason he stays in prison.

What is different about this L.A. case?

In Los Angeles, Weinstein is facing 11 charges that he sexually assaulted women in separate incidents over a span of nearly a decade, a larger case than the one argued in New York.

Weinstein was first charged with sexual assault in Los Angeles in 2020 just as his New York trial was getting started. He was eventually indicted in Los Angeles in July 2021 for four counts of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.

Weinstein allegedly raped a woman at a hotel between September 2004 and September 2005, according to prosecutors. He is also facing accusations that he raped another woman on two separate occasions in November 2009 and November 2010 at a hotel in Beverly Hills. Weinstein is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010 and charged with sexually assaulting two women during separate incidents in 2013.

Will the accusers testify?

Court case documents indicate the accusers will testify in court as "Jane Doe" number 1-5 to keep their identity under wraps.

Judge Lisa B. Lench has also allowed four additional women to testify as "prior bad acts" witnesses, according to Variety.

Other witnesses the prosecutors hoped to use in their case, including Daryl Hannah and Rose McGowan, were excluded by Lench.

McGowan, a Hollywood TV and film actress, had previously accused Weinstein of raping her in 1997. He denied her claims, though the two worked out a $100,000 settlement over the alleged incident. McGowan had attempted to sue Weinstein in a separate case, but that lawsuit was later dismissed.

Court attendance will be smaller

The trial will take place at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. It's expected to last eight weeks, according to The Associated Press.

No grand perp walk will happen in this trial as Weinstein remains behind bars. He will be kept in jail and brought to the courtroom for trial.

In New York, Weinstein was seen by the media and hordes of protesters each time he arrived for his trial in Manhattan.

Only 24 reporters, including two sketch artists, can be inside the courtroom each day, according to the AP. In New York, dozens were allowed inside to monitor the trial.

Years before #MeToo, Weinstein dominated Hollywood

This second rape trial will be another reminder at just how far the former movie mogul has fallen.

At his peak, Weinstein was highly influential in Hollywood thanks to his companies, Miramax and The Weinstein Company.

Movies produced or distributed by those companies were at one point nominated for more than 340 Academy Awards - winning 81 of them - before he was kicked out of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

In October 2017, The New York Times and days later The New Yorker published exposes into allegations that Weinstein had attacked dozens of women over several years. Allegations of this nature were often whispered about, even joked about, but never brought to light in this way before.

Weinstein's ordeal is far from over.

This summer Weinstein was charged with assault in London related to an attack that occurred in 1996, according to authorities there.

Weinstein has never admitted any wrongdoing.

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Harvey Weinstein faces his next criminal trial in Los Angeles this week

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Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's second criminal trial over the alleged sexual assaults of women, at least one occurring 18 years ago, is set to take place in Los Angeles this week. Jury selection begins Monday.

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civil attached above and criminal attached below.
https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/1011/1328544-colm-horkan-court-case/

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Facebook Ireland has apologised unreservedly to broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan over fake ads on the social media platform which used her name and image.

The Prime Time presenter received the unreserved apology as part of the settlement of her High Court action over several defamatory and untrue adverts that were posted on the social media platform.

Included in the settlement agreement, Meta Platforms Ireland, formerly known as Facebook Ireland, have agreed to establish an additional scam ad reporting tool, which will allow Irish users to submit reports on misleading adverts to a specialist team within Facebook for review.

Speaking after the settlement the broadcaster said it was "a good day" following a five-year battle over the misleading ads which she said had caused her distress, and had damaged her reputation.

Fake ads

She also expressed her delight that not only had the fake ads been taken down, but also over the fact Facebook are to introduce an additional tool which allows people to report scam ads.

In proceedings launched against Facebook Ireland three years ago Ms O'Callaghanclaimed she was defamed, and sought damages, in a series of false and malicious adverts containing her image and name on Facebook and Instagram in May 2018.

At the High Court on Friday Paul O'Higgins SC, instructed by solicitor Paul Tweed, for MsO'Callaghan said the matter had been settled against Facebook.

As part of the settlement Facebook Ireland's counsel Joe Jeffers Bl read an agreed statement to the court, where it was acknowledged that the proceedings over the publication of misleading adverts published on Facebook by "malicious third parties" had been resolved.

"These adverts contained fabricated statements, which have been extremely damaging to Ms O'Callaghan. Meta Platforms Ireland accepts and regrets that the publication of these ads has caused Ms O'Callaghan distress and embarrassment, and regrets any wider concerns and distress caused by the ads."

"Meta Platforms Ireland apologises unreservedly to Ms O'Callaghan"

The statement added that the broadcaster is satisfied that the publication of the fake adverts, using her name and image, appears to have ceased.

Robust measures

The statement added that as a result of bring the action "Meta Platforms Ireland has undertaken to the broadcaster that it will use robust measures to tackle such advertisements in the future and will offer the ability within Ireland to report scam ads via an additional scam ad reporting tool."

Previously the High Court heard that the adverts at the centre of the action contained various misleading and defamatory headlines wrongly suggesting that Ms O'Callaghan has left her job with RTÉ's Prime Time.

Ms O'Callaghan said she had "nothing to do" with the adverts, which are linked to offers for skin care products.

She claimed that she most distressed at being associated against her will with what has been described as "a scam product," the court heard.

She claims the adverts have exploited the trust placed in her by the Irish public and have damaged her good name and reputation.

The paid for adverts, known as "targeted advertisements ", appear on social media user's newsfeeds, and are designed to encourage the user to click on the adverts.

Those who click on the adverts are offered various skin care products, which she said were falsely stated to be owned or endorsed by Ms O'Callaghan.

The pages also wrongly stated that she had left her position in RTE to focus on the promotion of the skincare range, it was alleged.

It was also claimed that users who avail of an offer of free trials of the skin care products have reported that had money debited from their bank accounts which they did not authorise.

Permanent injunction

Ms O'Callaghan also sought a permanent injunction restraining the publication of the adverts, as well as damages for malicious falsehood, unlawful appropriation of personality, various breaches of her constitutional rights and defamation.

During the course of her proceedings subsequently secured an order requiring the social media company to provide basic subscriber information, payment method details and business manager account information about those behind the adverts.

After obtaining that order Ms O'Callaghan'slawyers were able identified 51 individuals/names, with addresses in the United States and the Balkans who were joined as co-defendants with Facebook.

However it was not possible to identify any real persons, who were behind the fake ads, with that information.

Outside of court her solicitor Paul Tweed said his client welcomed the successful resolution of the broadcaster's proceedings.

The settlement he said had achieved his client's objectives of terminating the fake ads, vindicating Ms O'Callaghan's reputation, and has brought about something that will afford Irish Facebook users more protection.

The implementation of an addition reporting tool allowing Irish Facebook users to submit detailed reports of fake or scam ads was also a welcome development.

The tool will make such misleading material easier to report, he said, adding that such complaints will be dealt with by a specialist team within the social media giants,

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Miriam O'Callaghan settles defamation action against Facebook over fake ads | BreakingNews.ie

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Facebook Ireland has apologised unreservedly to broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan over fake ads on the social media platform which used her name and image. The Prime Time presenter received the unreserved apology as part of the settlement of her High Court action over several defamatory and untrue adverts that were posted on the social media platform.

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Explainer: What happened with the Graham Dwyer data retention case in the Supreme Court? (thejournal.ie)

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Explainer: What happened with the Graham Dwyer data retention case in the Supreme Court?

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Man not entitled to widower’s pension after death of partner of 20 years because they weren’t married, court rules - Independent.ie

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The long-time partner of a woman who died from Covid-19 has lost a High Court challenge over the Minister for Social Protection's refusal to grant him the widower's pension.

n his judgment, Mr Justice Mark Heslin said that while he had enormous sympathy for John O'Meara - whose partner of over 20 years, Michelle Batey, died on January 31, 2021 as a result of contracting Covid19 - the court had to dismiss their claim.

Mr O'Meara took the claim alongside his and his late partner's three children.

In their action, Mr O'Meara and his three minor children claimed that sections of the 2005 Social Welfare Consolidation Act, which excluded him from receiving the pension, amounted to discrimination. He was excluded from receiving the pension as he was not married to, nor had he entered into a formal civil partnership with, his late partner,

The action was against the Minister for Social Protection, Ireland and the Attorney General.

Mr Justice Heslin said that the challenge centred on the constitutionality of parts of the 2005 Act and the entitlement of the children, through their father Mr O'Meara, to the payment.

The judge held that they were not entitled to the payment and rejected their claims that the State's refusal to make the payment amounted to a form of discrimination.

He said that the legislation concerning who is entitled to be paid this particular pension is extremely wide, however it does not apply to persons in the applicants' situation.

It was the role of the Oireachtas to decide exactly who should benefit from this pension, the judge said, adding that the making of such decisions "is not a role which this court can legitimately play".

Cohabitation, he said, was not a qualification requirement for the entitlement of the payment.

The payment, the judge also held, is not a benefit for any child paid through a parent, nor is it a payment directed at supporting families with children.

It is directed, he said, at supporting a bereaved spouse and is a payment to which a person is entitled if they were married to the deceased.

It is, he added, payable irrespective if the couple had any children or not.

In their statement of opposition, the State respondents had argued that the payment for the Widowers Contributory Pension (WCP) is for persons who have entered into a civil partnership and who have therefore entered into a legally recognised relationship that confers rights and obligations on the contracting partners.

The act provides for certain supports to be provided to the surviving spouse or civil partner, including assistance in dealing with the economic hardships of that loss, the State submitted. .

The establishment of the payment is one of the mechanisms by which the State supports the institution of marriage, and the fostering of the legal and social bands which derive from that institution, the State said.

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Man not entitled to widower's pension after death of partner of 20 years because they weren't married, court rules

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The long-time partner of a woman who died from Covid-19 has lost a High Court challenge over the Minister for Social Protection's refusal to grant him the widower's pension.

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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/shop-assistant-injured-by-falling-bread-awarded-15-000-1.2852054

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Shop assistant injured by falling bread awarded €15,000

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Tray of loaves falling from trolley hit victim’s head and knocked her to ground

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https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/man-who-threw-firework-into-crowd-at-anti-lockdown-protest-injuring-garda-said-it-was-meant-to-be-a-bit-of-a-laugh-42058285.html

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A garda's eardrum was perforated after a protestor at an anti-lockdown demonstration threw a firework into the crowd, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

ake Merriman (31) was jailed for 20 months today after he pleaded guilty to endangerment on Grafton Street, Dublin on February 27, 2021.

Additional charges of assaulting two gardaí were taken into account after the court heard that Merriman also punched a garda in the face and kicked another garda in the testicles.

Merriman of Meadowlands Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, later told gardaí that he had no intention of causing trouble that day. He said he had been drinking the night before and had decided to head into town for the protest.

"It was meant to be a bit of a laugh," he said. Merriman has minor previous convictions that were dealt with in the District Court.

Detective Sergeant Patrick Traynor accepted that a juvenile handed Merriman the firework, lit it and then Merriman threw it into the crowd. It landed close to Garda Mark Walsh, perforating his right ear drum. The garda has since fully recovered, but his hearing was affected for some time.

Judge Martin Nolan said Merriman took a very active part in the demonstration and behaved in a very violent manner.

He noted from a victim impact statement, which was not read out in court, that Gda Walsh was in considerable pain and distress and lost his hearing for some time.

"He worried for some time that he would not be able to return to his role, but thankfully his hearing has recovered," Judge Nolan said.

"He (Merriman) was violent, aggressive and hostile on the day. He aggravated the situation and caused considerable difficulties for the demonstrators and the gardaí," the judge continued before he said Merriman deserved a custodial sentence.

"He kicked, punched and discharged a weapon," Judge Nolan said while acknowledging that Merriman had not intended to cause the damage he did when he threw the firework.

He sentenced Merriman to three years in prison with the final 16 months suspended on strict conditions including that he hands over €5,000 for Gda Walsh, should he choose to accept it.

The court heard that Merriman, who runs his own power washing business, had €10,000 in court as a token of his remorse.

"Gardaí have a difficult time, particularly on that day. He brought his fair share of hostility and anger," Judge Nolan said.

Det Sgt Traynor told John Moher BL, prosecuting that Merriman had been vocal and abusive and had been throwing glass and plastic bottles at gardaí earlier that day before he punched and kicked the two gardaí.

He later told gardaí it had been his intention to cause a disturbance and make noise.

Det Sgt Traynor agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending that his client told gardaí in interview that it had been "a moment of madness" following a night of drinking.

He accepted that Merriman said he had been "foolish" to go in that day and he repeatedly called himself a fool when being questioned.

It was further accepted that Merriman had demonstrated sincere remorse and regret and had written a letter to the garda.

Mr Spencer said his client had received hate mail in the aftermath of the demonstration. "He suffered the fall-out from it being shared in the media," counsel said.

He said Merriman had been struggling with alcohol and being out of work at the time due to the pandemic.

"He knows he took the wrong choice and pledges to take the right choice in the future," Mr Spencer submitted.

"It is an incident that caused him deep regret and remorse and he is trying to put things right," he continued.

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Man who threw firework into crowd at anti-lockdown protest injuring garda said 'it was meant to be a bit of a laugh'

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A garda's eardrum was perforated after a protestor at an anti-lockdown demonstration threw a firework into the crowd, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard. ake Merriman (31) was jailed for 20 months today after he pleaded guilty to endangerment on Grafton Street, Dublin on February 27, 2021.

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Criminal Court Report Example - Róisín McManus

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Criminal Court Report Example - Róisín McManus

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https://www.thejournal.ie/lucy-letby-trial-5890429-Oct2022/

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British hospital nurse 'murdered newborn six days after killing another baby on ward'

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Civil Court Report Example - Róisín McManus

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Civil Court Report Example - Róisín McManus

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https://www.thejournal.ie/wind-farm-gougane-barra-west-cork-an-bord-pleanala-5887189-Oct2022/

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Community group wins campaign to prevent wind farm from being set up in West Cork

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A disqualified driver who drove down the wrong side of the M50 to escape gardaí before ploughing into the car of an elderly couple has been jailed for seven and a half years.

rian Reilly (24) ruined the lives of John and Ellen Armstrong after he crashed into their car when they were stopped at a red light in Finglas last January, Judge Melanie Greally told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.

Ellen Armstrong suffered significant injuries and had to have the tip of her thumb amputated, which has left her dependent on others, the court heard.

Reilly, a disqualified driver with 126 previous convictions, was trying to escape gardaí after he was stopped and asked for his driving licence.

He had been released from jail six weeks before the incident after serving a sentence for offences including endangerment, the court heard.

Reilly, of Tailteann Drive, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangerment, one count of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm, one count of refusing to provide a blood or urine sample and one count of driving without insurance on January 29, 2020.

Judge Greally said Reilly "exposed four separate drivers to risk of death or serious harm" on the day in question.

"In the case of Ms Armstrong, he inflicted a life-long episode of pain and loss of independence and loss of the pursuits she enjoyed so much," she said.

She imposed a sentence of seven and a half years and suspended the final 18 months on a number of conditions, including that Reilly engage with drug addiction services.

She disqualified him from driving for life.

Garda Kieran Moloney previously told the court that a garda approached Reilly's car at a garage on the North Road in Finglas.

When asked for his licence, Reilly took off at speed, going the wrong way around a roundabout before driving the wrong way down the M50 and the N2.

The incident came to an end when Reilly crashed into a van at Kilshane Cross.

This collision sent his car crashing into the Armstrongs. Their car then crashed into a tree.
Suffered
Reilly refused to provide a blood or urine sample to find out if he was under the influence of an intoxicant, the court heard.

Ms Armstrong suffered multiple rib fractures and other injuries in the crash, the court heard.

Her husband John Armstrong still suffers pain on a daily basis.

He suffered a head wound and had a seizure in the wake of the crash.

The defence said his client had "panicked" when he was pulled over by gardaí.

The court heard Reilly has spent much of his life in and out of prison.

Almost half of Reilly's convictions are for road traffic offences, including six for dangerous driving, nine for driving without a licence and eight for driving without insurance.

"He has directly caused adversity and harm to two individuals who were expecting a comfortable retirement," the defence said, adding Reilly was extremely remorseful.

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Dangerous driver is jailed and banned for life after smashing into elderly couple

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A disqualified driver who drove down the wrong side of the M50 to escape gardaí before ploughing into the car of an elderly couple has been jailed for seven and a half years.

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A PENSIONER has been hit with a £30,000 court bill after blocking a drive with pot plants during a ten-year war with her next-door neighbour.

Retired taxi driver Yvonne Rogers, 72, has been slapped with the hefty penalty after being sued by grandmother Janice Wright over their shared-drive rivalry.

The neighbours first clashed back in 2012, after Yvonne planted a massive garden out of pot plants on her side of their drive in Allenby Grove, Portchester, Hants.

The two have since been squabbling in ten year dispute over the issue, as infuriated Janice complained that the pots and overgrown foliage block her right of way over the driveway.

Mrs Wright also claims it makes it hard for her to push her grandkid's buggy to her house.

The neighbours' have been locked in a ding-dong legal battle over their shared driveway, with each owning half of its width but having a right of way over it all.

For neighbours disputing the boundary of their property, it is recommended that they enlist a surveyor to draw up a detailed plan which both parties can sign and submit to the Land Registry.

Solicitors can also act as a mediator for quarrelling neighbours, with court action advised only as a last resort.

Now, following the decade-long rivalry that saw Janice take her neighbour to court, Yvonne faces a £30,000 legal bill after losing the case.

Ms Rogers was also slapped with a suspended jail term after ignoring a court order to get her pot plants off the drive.

Alongside the pesky plants, she also positioned her wheelie bins and garden ornaments along the drive, and allowed trees and plants to grow from her side and overhang the driveway.

Exasperated after years of to-and-fro, Mrs Wright first dragged her neighbour to Winchester County Court last year.

She won an injunction ordering Ms Rogers to clear the obstruction, but she failed to do so.

This led her to be hauled back to court again in June this year, when she was found in contempt of court by Judge Michael Berkley.

In his ruling, he said Ms Rogers had not only denied encroaching on the right of way, but also claimed her neighbour was trying to force her out of her home so she could buy it cheap.

"I accept that it is distressing for Mrs Wright to have to live next door to Ms Rogers in these circumstances," he said.

"Mrs Wright explained to me, not only is this an encroachment of her right of way, there are also actual practical difficulties that are caused.

"First, moving her wheelie bins to the front for refuse collections, and secondly getting her granddaughter's pushchair up and down the drive is made difficult because the concrete part of the driveway cannot be used by virtue of the encroachment.

"So this is not just a question of the court order being disobeyed, it is actually a matter of personal inconvenience to Ms Wright and her family."

He added: "I take into account the fact that Mrs Wright has clearly had this right of way being interfered with for quite some time.

"By the extent of the foliage that has been allowed to grow up, one might say that Mrs Wright has indeed been very indulgent to Ms Rogers over the years."

Her response to the court proceedings had been to not turn up and instead send a string of emails, seeking to "threaten, demean and accuse" those involved, including Mrs Wright, he said.

"The conduct which the defendant has chosen to engage with this matter has been conduct which has brought severe distress, worry, fear, and expense to Mrs Wright," the judge added.

In September, he sentenced her to six months' imprisonment for ignoring the injunction.

But appealing to have the sentence overturned last week, Ms Rogers' barrister John King said she had removed the pots after the hearing in June and would now cut back the bushes.

He said she also suffers "severe underlying" health issues and now plans to leave the street in order to put the dispute behind her.

He added that the duo's rivalry had "been allowed to spin out of control", and said the conflict had consequences for Ms Rogers' mental and "already fragile" physical health".

Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said the court would give a full ruling on the sentence appeal at a later date, but would be suspending Ms Rogers' sentence so she does not go to jail.

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My neighbour blocks my drive with pot plants - now she's facing a £30k bill

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A PENSIONER has been hit with a £30,000 court bill after blocking a drive with pot plants during a ten-year war with her next-door neighbour. Retired taxi driver Yvonne Rogers, 72, has been slapped with the hefty penalty after being sued by grandmother Janice Wright over their shared-drive rivalry.