Charges against an Irish businessman accused of deception over a herbal cream were adjourned for the 11th time by Uxbridge Magistrates Court in England this week.
Mr Donal Raymond Walsh (59), of Cherryfield House, Ballysimon Road, Limerick, was due to appear in court on Thursday but instead sent a medical certificate saying he was unable to attend due to ill-health.
Last July, he claimed he had had two heart attacks and was in hospital and the case was adjourned. Yesterday the justices adjourned the case further until November 23rd.
The case against Mr Walsh is being brought by the British Department of Health, under the Medicines Act. It was first brought to court in October 1999. Since then, there have been constant adjournments and reasons for Mr Walsh's non-appearance.
It is alleged that on June 12th, 1999, at a Welcome Break Hotel in Mill Hill, north-west London, he obtained by deception £268 sterling from Meena Patel, by falsely representing that jars of herbal cream did not contain steroids. He is also charged with obtaining by deception £145 sterling from Harjinder Panesar on June 13th last year, at the same address, by making the same false representation.
Mr Walsh is further charged with dealing in "Cherrydex Cream" and pots of unlabelled preparations at Heathrow Airport on September 17th, 1999,and with offering for sale a medicinal product not on the general sale list.