Mulhern fails to get court case dismissed

The son-in-law of former taoiseach Charles Haughey has failed in his efforts to have criminal charges against him dismissed.

Lawyers acting for John Mulhern yesterday told Kildare District Court that charges against the businessman relating to alleged breaches of company law should be dismissed.

Alan Doherty BL, for Mr Mulhern, told Judge Murrough Connellan that the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), which is pursuing the prosecution, had failed to adhere to an order of the court dating back to January.

On that occasion, the court was told Mr Mulhern was being singled out for prosecution because of his high profile arising from his connection with Mr Haughey. The court had ordered the ODCE to fully disclose why a prosecution was being pursued. The ODCE had failed to do this and was in breach of the court's order and the charges should be dismissed, Mr Doherty said yesterday.

Remy Farrell BL, for the ODCE, rejected the suggestion that its decision to prosecute Mr Mulhern was "intimidatory" or "selective". He applied to the court for an adjournment to May 12th.

Mr Doherty said the application amounted to the ODCE preparing itself for a judicial review in the High Court of the January order. He said High Court proceedings would be very stressful and expensive for his client.

However, Judge Connellan said that, given the unique nature of the January order, the ODCE had a right to canvas the opinions of a higher court on the matter. He granted the adjournment.

Mr Mulhern, Meadowcourt Stud, Maddenstown, Co Kildare, has been charged with six breaches of Section 31 of the Companies Act 1990, which sets out the law in relation to directors borrowing money from their own companies.

It is alleged that Mr Mulhern received three loans from Clayton Love Distribution Ltd of which he was a director and an officer. It is claimed that on March 6th, 2002, Mr Mulhern got a loan of €50,000, on April 2nd of the same year he borrowed €28,140 and on July 30th, 2002, he received €8,226.