A JUDGE was challenged by a defendant yesterday to produce his oath of office before proceeding with a case being heard at Wexford District Court.
Declaring that he was before the court “under duress”, Bobby Oliver Sludds (29), Ballagh Cove, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, said Judge David Anderson had no jurisdiction to deal with the case unless he first produced his oath.
“Where did you read that?” asked the judge.
“The Constitution. It says that a judge must offer up his oath when requested and I am asking you, do you have your oath?” said Mr Sludds, before picking up a copy of the Constitution and quoting from it at length.
“This is not a quiz, I ask the questions. I made my oath in front of the Chief Justice and I have no idea if he kept a record or not,” the judge replied.
“Do you speak English or legalese?” replied Mr Sludds, before putting down the Constitution and picking up a copy of Black’s Law Dictionary.
Quoting the precise definition of “summons”, Mr Sludds proceeded to dispute the validity of the summons issued by the court, in which he was charged with a number of motoring offences in Enniscorthy in April 2010.
“These offences are fraudulent and I’m not this Bobby Oliver Sludds you speak of,” he said. “That’s not me and this fictitious claim is a fraud on this court. This is not my name. I’ve been taken here against my will.”
Asked to clarify the matter, prosecuting garda Michael O’Grady said that when he had stopped the defendant and asked him his name, he had replied: “Bobby of the family Sludds”.
Mr Sludds then handed up a copy of his birth certificate to the court and repeated that he was not the man named in the summons.
Having heard repeated denials that he was the man named, the judge said he had no choice but to remand Mr Sludds in custody because there was some confusion about his true identity.
“I can’t accept a bail bond from someone whose signature can’t be verified,” he said, remanding Mr Sludds to Cloverhill prison.
“You can’t do this. This isn’t over. You can expect a bill,” Mr Sludds shouted as he was led away.