A Circuit Court judge charged with possessing child pornography has been refused leave to take proceedings to secure unrestricted access to some 280 alleged pornographic images allegedly taken from his computer.
Mr Justice Kearns in the High Court said the application on behalf of Judge Brian Curtin (52), of Ard na Lí, Tralee, should be made in the first instance by way of a preliminary application to the Circuit Court judge dealing with the case.
Judge Curtin's trial is expected to proceed next Spring.
He had applied for access for the purpose of researching his defence case.
The images include some 85 allegedly downloaded from Judge Curtin's computer and a further 187 allegedly restored by gardaí after being allegedly downloaded from the computer.