A round-up of today's other courts news
Acquitted of assaulting Garda
A man has been acquitted of assaulting a garda who was trying to remove him from a public toilet after he was found there with a syringe in his hand.
Ivan Hendy (24) of Luttrellstown Rise, Carpenterstown, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Garda David Stafford and to possession of heroin at Debenhams department store in the Jervis Centre on November 7th, 2007.
Judge Patrick McCartan had directed the jury to find Mr Hendy not guilty on the charge of heroin possession.
The judge excused Mr Hendy from the indictment.
Court blocks trial of retired priest
A retired Roman Catholic priest aged in his 80s has won a High Court order restraining his trial for the alleged indecent assault of an 11-year-old girl.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill ruled several factors in the case had resulted in a real risk of an unfair trial.
The judge said the Garda refusal to obtain a statement from the girl’s mother concerning the alleged matters was enough to prohibit a trial.
This failure, in conjunction with other factors, particularly the priest’s age, blindness and state of health created a real risk he would not get a fair trial.
The applicant was a parish priest from 1977 to 1981. The girl, then aged between 11 and 12 years, had alleged he indecently assaulted her on three occasions in 1977 and 1978 before she went to secondary school.
Bail denied for raid accused
A judge yesterday told one of the men charged in connection with the raid on the home of a Co Galway businessman this week that he would not grant him bail because of the seriousness of the charges.
Gregory Kelly (24) from Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun, Dublin and his co-accused Thomas Freeman (53) of Deansrath Grove, Clondalkin, Co Dublin were before Harristown District Court on charges of falsely imprisoning Julien and Emma Flynn at their home in Lackagh, Claregalway last Sunday night. They are also charged with the robbery of €3,000 from Mr Flynn. Judge Geoffrey Browne remanded both men in custody.