The Supreme Court refused Ciaran Waldron leave to appeal against his conviction for threatening to kill, in a determination delivered on 15 September 2016. The Director of Public Prosecutions was the respondent.
A unanimous jury in the Circuit Court in Letterkenny convicted Mr Waldron on 23 June 2010 and he was fined €1,000. The charge related to an incident on 7 August 2006 at Ludden, Buncrana, County Donegal.
Mr Waldron appealed the conviction to the Court of Appeal (Birmingham J., Mahon J. and Sheehan J.), arguing that the trial judge had misdirected the jury on what the offence required. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on 19 October 2015. It noted that defence counsel had said he was very happy with the judge's charge when the prosecution sought further clarification.
The Supreme Court said the issue was specific to one trial and had been fully decided by the Court of Appeal. It said the case involved the application of settled law to its facts, and that no requisition had been raised on the charge and no exceptional reason had been given for that. There was no stateable case for an appeal, so leave was refused.