Man cites balcony fall for court absence

A man told a judge yesterday he had been unable to attend court as a witness because he had injured himself after falling from…

A man told a judge yesterday he had been unable to attend court as a witness because he had injured himself after falling from the fourth floor of an apartment in Bulgaria.

Edward Hutch (29) was arrested and brought before Dublin District Court yesterday after he failed to turn up as a witness in a trial against his brother, Alan Hutch (25), who was charged with unlawful possession of a knife on June 18th last year.

Edward Hutch and their mother, Jane, had made a complaint to gardaí that Alan Hutch had allegedly threatened them with a knife at the family home in Portland Place, Dublin.

The trial was due to take place two weeks ago, but Edward Hutch, as one of the main witnesses, did not go to court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

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When he was brought before the court yesterday, he claimed that he had been unable to turn up because he suffered a fractured pelvis after falling 70ft from a family-owned apartment in Bulgaria.

"I fell from a fourth-floor balcony and I was not well," he said.

Asked by Judge Bridget Reilly when this happened, he replied "August last year."

He said he intended withdrawing the complaint against his brother because he (Alan) "was high on drugs at the time and he wants to get treatment".

Garda Pat Keegan said there had been a history of members of this family making complaints against one another and not following them through when they came to court.

"This is the first I have heard of it [ the fall], but there have been other complaints which gardaí have had to investigate and they have not been followed through," the garda said.

Judge Reilly said it was not acceptable for Mr Hutch to be "crying wolf" and wasting Garda resources.

She granted him bail and warned him to turn up on July 12th when the case against his brother is set down for hearing.