Court proceedings against a Limerick-based manufacturer of alternative medicine products were yesterday adjourned for the ninth time after he failed to appear before an English court.
The case was adjourned at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court in west London until July 21st, when it will be decided if Mr Donal Raymond Walsh, a Limerick homeopath, is fit to stand trial on a series of charges involving obtaining money by deception and breaches of health regulations.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Walsh, of Ballysimon Road, Limerick, obtained £268 by deception from Meena Patel on June 12th last year in Mill Hill, London, by falsely claiming that jars of herbal cream did not contain steroids, and that he obtained £145 by deception from Harjinder Panesar on June 13th last year by falsely claiming that jars of herbal cream did not contain steroids. He is further charged with dealing in "Cherrydex Cream" and pots of unlabelled preparations at Heathrow Airport on September 17th last year.
He is also charged with offering for sale a medicinal cream which was not on the general sale list, with possessing "Cherrydex Cream" knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that he was placing it on the market in the absence of EU authorisation, and with selling "Cherrydex Cream" which was not of the nature or quality demanded by the purchaser.
Magistrates had warned at a previous hearing that they might consider issuing a warrant for Mr Walsh's extradition from Ireland to face the charges. His lawyers said yesterday that he had undergone a series of medical examinations which showed him to be suffering from hypertension and a heart condition which made him unfit to stand trial.