Darren Foster, 44, pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal damage after breaking into a warehouse in the Dublin Industrial Estate on the night of 9 July 2023. He used a forklift to lift security doors and caused extensive damage to the interior, including cutting telecom lines and damaging tools stored in a secure area. The warehouse, operated by St Micheal's House for the HSE, suffered about €4,400 in damage. Foster was found in a van near the site, covered by a blanket, and was arrested while on bail. He claimed he had no intention to steal but wanted to draw attention to an alleged debt. The court, noting his prior convictions and current sentence, imposed an additional 10‑month sentence consecutive to his existing term, extending his custody until July 2025. No victim impact statement was presented. The case highlighted Foster's addiction issues and his recent detox and volunteer work in custody.
Dan Horan, a 32‑year‑old panto performer from Wicklow, pleaded guilty in July 2023 to sexually assaulting a 26‑year‑old man at a house party in Naas in July 2020. The victim had fallen asleep after receiving cannabis from Horan. Horan was found to be rubbing the victim's penis while the victim's girlfriend discovered the assault at about 6 am, leading to the victim's distress. In February 2024 Judge Mary O'Malley Costello sentenced Horan to four‑and‑a‑half years' imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended for two years. Horan appealed, arguing the headline sentence of six‑and‑a‑half years was too high. The Court of Appeal quashed the original sentence, re‑sentencing Horan to a headline of four‑and‑a‑half years, discounting 18 months, and suspending an additional 18 months to encourage rehabilitation.
A company building emergency accommodation for Ukrainian refugees in Newhall, Naas, Co Kildare, has obtained a temporary High Court injunction to stop protesters from blocking the site's entrances. Total Experience Limited, trading as Pastures New Accommodation, claims that up to 50 protesters have been preventing people and vehicles from entering or leaving the site by forming a "human shield" and parking cars in front of the entrances. The company says these actions amount to nuisance and unreasonable interference, and that the blockade could delay the completion of the facility, which is 90% finished and expected to be ready by early March. Mr Justice Mark Sanfey granted the injunction on an ex‑parte basis, restraining two identified protesters, Noreen O'Shea and Jessica McLoughlin, and against unknown persons who are also alleged to be obstructing the entrances. The injunction is temporary and the case is set to return to court next week.
In February 2024 the Employment Tribunal awarded €30,000 to former Homesavers manager Darell Donnelly after he claimed he was pressured to obstruct Gardaí and health inspectors during a severe mouse infestation at the City East retail park store in Limerick. Donnelly said the infestation was so severe in 2022 that it triggered the alarm at night and that three managers spent three hours each morning cleaning droppings and urine. He alleged that the store's commercial manager told him the matter was "out of his hands" and that he was instructed to keep cleaning while pest control experts recommended fumigation. Donnelly also claimed the commercial manager prevented him from allowing inspectors into the premises and threatened to prosecute him for refusing access to pest‑control records. The tribunal found Donnelly's complaints were protected under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and that the company's actions, including a forced transfer to Nenagh, constituted detrimental treatment.
Brendan Ogle, a Unite trade‑unionist, has lodged a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998 alleging that the union discriminated against him on disability grounds after his return to work in 2022 following a cancer diagnosis. He claims a colleague, Tom Fitzgerald, told him that Unite's general secretary Sharon Graham had directed that he be excluded from a new strategy for Ireland. Ogle says his line manager, Jackie Pollock, and HR manager Richard Griffiths were surprised by this claim, and that a meeting with Graham's deputy Gail Cartmail denied any such directive. The case was adjourned by the Workplace Relations Commission to April, with hearings held at Lansdowne House in Ballsbridge. The proceedings were attended by the public, and the adjudicator warned against recording the hearing. Ogle's evidence was presented by his counsel, Mark Harty SC, and the union's counsel, Mary‑Paula Guinness BL, engaged in heated exchanges during the hearing.
During a trial, Garda Superintendent Dermot Dray explained that a bomb threat call to the Samaritans hotline, claiming explosives were planted at Minister for Justice Helen McEntee's home, was treated as a serious criminal offence that could threaten the state's security. The call, made on 7 March 2021 from Midlands Prison while Michael Murray was incarcerated, was investigated to identify the caller's number and location. Dray noted that the call's origin was traced to the prison two days later, and that the Samaritans volunteer who received the call had not recorded the exact time or duration. Garda Sergeant Paul McGarry recounted that officers from Navan and Dublin were dispatched to McEntee's residence and the Justice Department to search for suspicious devices, finding none. The threat was ultimately deemed a hoax, but the investigation remained thorough. The case is before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury. Michael Murray pleaded not guilty.
In the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Brian Lucey (44) was sentenced for illegally possessing a submachine gun at the M11 Shankill roundabout on March 7, 2020. Lucey, of Ashford, Co Wicklow, initially took a trial date but later pleaded guilty. Judge Martin Nolan accepted that Lucey, a 'gilly' expecting to collect cannabis, was 'completely taken by surprise' when an unknown individual threw the firearm into his car. The judge noted Lucey's low culpability and 'agony of the moment,' resulting in a four-year fully-suspended sentence. The court heard that Lucey was used by co-accused to move the weapon. In related proceedings, Robert Redmond and Jamie Gray pleaded guilty to possessing the firearm for an unlawful purpose and were jailed in July 2023. Redmond, who denied the charge of murdering Barry Wolverson in January 2020, was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2022. His co-accused, Bernard Fogarty, was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Mr Wolverson. Separately, Fogarty pleaded guilty to possession of the submachine gun in 2020 and was jailed for five years by the Special Criminal Court.
The High Court heard that Alexandr Vakiy and Max Bulgakov, former partners, directors and shareholders of Maxala Limited and EastDeli Limited, have fallen out over irreconcilable differences, partly due to the 2022 Russia‑Ukraine war. Vakiy, represented by Bernard Dunleavy SC and Naill Ó hUiginn BL, has brought proceedings under the 2014 Companies Act, alleging oppression as a shareholder by Bulgakov. Bulgakov, represented by Martin Hayden SC and Brian Walker BL, denies wrongdoing. Vakiy has applied for an injunction preventing Bulgakov from transferring money from the companies' bank accounts without 72‑hour notice and an invoice to substantiate such transfers. He also seeks access to the businesses' digital platforms and login credentials to participate in the Deposit Return Scheme. The court was told that the parties have agreed to give each other cross‑undertakings, including 72‑hour notice of payments and access to online facilities, and that the dispute will go to mediation.
During a search of a Renault van at Dublin Port, Gardaí uncovered a secret, lead‑lined compartment beneath the floor carpet containing 167,000 Xanax tablets, valued at €334,950. The van had arrived from Manchester on 4 July of the previous year. The owner, Conor Kealy, 42, of Gleann na hEorna, Springfield, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to importing controlled drugs. He was sentenced by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four and a half years' imprisonment, a sentence backdated to the July offence. Kealy claimed he was unaware of the compartment's contents. He has 21 prior convictions, including two drug offences, and has a history of addiction dating back to his teens. The court noted his vulnerability and the role of drug debt in his actions. He is reportedly adapting well to prison life.
Daniel O'Connell, 42, pleaded guilty to possession of heroin for sale or supply on 8 March 2022 at his Cherry Orchard Park home. Gardaí searched the property and found a white plastic bag in an upstairs bedroom containing 113 g of diamorphine, valued at €15,904. O'Connell was not present during the search but later contacted the police, stating he was holding the drugs on behalf of a third party to reduce a €5,000 drug debt. He claimed he had been holding the heroin for two weeks, was unaware of its weight, and was threatened at the time. He said it would be the "first and clearly the last time" he would hold drugs. O'Connell has 19 prior convictions, mainly for traffic offences, and three drug offences. He has a history of addiction, has engaged in rehabilitation, and has a job offer after completing an up‑skilling programme.
Brendan Ogle is testifying in a Workplace Relations Commission hearing that Unite's former chairman, Tony Woodhouse, defamed him during a 2022 conference by claiming "lies were being told" about the union on social media. Ogle says the remarks were made after his wife, Unite official Amanda La Combre, posted on Facebook about his return to work from cancer treatment, which was reported by the Irish and British press. He alleges Woodhouse's comments were made without naming him and that they were part of a broader pattern of defamation. Ogle has filed a defamation claim against Woodhouse and has been warned not to discuss his evidence with anyone. The hearing is adjourned for the night, with cross‑examination to resume later. The case remains an ongoing complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1998.
In a Workplace Relations Commission hearing, Templeogue College principal Niamh Quinn will deny retaliating against former teacher Jennifer Clancy, who had signed a grievance about student indiscipline. Quinn will argue that she did not target Clancy personally and that any disciplinary action was unrelated to the grievance. She will also contest claims that a student who threw a mobile phone at a teacher was only internally suspended, and that a student filmed a teacher's backside, stating no evidence was found. Quinn will explain that the timetable change offered to Clancy in September 2022, which shifted her to afternoon classes, was an administrative adjustment, not a punitive measure, and that Clancy was not approved for a permanent contract at that time. The hearing is adjourned to 24 April for further evidence. The case involves complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
In a 2024 ruling, the Workplace Relations Commission found that former bouncer Ellison Silva dos Santos was not unfairly dismissed by Mercantile Entertainment Group after an incident at Dublin's George bar. Silva dos Santos claimed he was fired two days after a customer allegedly threw herself down the stairs during Pride month, but the company argued he was not allowed to continue working due to concerns over his conduct. The tribunal noted that the company had issued a warning letter and later terminated his contract on 11 August 2023, citing abandonment of employment. Evidence included CCTV footage, witness statements, and text messages indicating the worker was transferred to other venues rather than dismissed. The adjudicator concluded, on the balance of probabilities, that Silva dos Santos was not dismissed on 30 June 2023 as he had alleged, and dismissed his unfair dismissal claim.
Alan Ward, 56, was convicted of murdering his wife Catherine Doyle, 41, by stabbing her on 1 March 2019. He pleaded diminished responsibility, claiming a stroke in 2017 had caused a mental disorder. At trial, the State's psychiatrist, Dr Damian Smith, referenced Ward's history of violence and argued alcohol intoxication was the likely cause of the murder, while the defence psychiatrist, Dr Paul O'Connell, acknowledged a brain injury and PTSD but declined to opine on the ultimate issue of diminished responsibility. Ward's appeal argues that Dr Smith should not have been allowed to give opinion evidence on the ultimate issue, as this should be decided by the jury. The Court of Appeal will reserve judgment on the appeal. The article reports the trial facts and the appeal's legal contentions but does not state any outcome of the appeal.
Patrick Kinsella secured a temporary High Court injunction that stops Everyday Finance Designated Company and joint receivers Andrew Dolliver and Luke Charleton of EY from auctioning a house in Orristown, Killinick, Co Wexford. Kinsella, who co‑owns the property with his former wife and whose son lives there, argues the receivers were not validly appointed, lack a power of sale and have no right to possess the house. He maintains that their only lawful activity is collecting rent. Kinsella's case stems from a €270,000 loan taken in 2007, later transferred to a family business that failed, and subsequently acquired by Everyday in 2019. He claims Everyday unlawfully demanded full repayment of €213,000 in 2021, leading to the receivers' appointment in 2022. The court, deeming the auction urgent and "extraordinary" with tenants present, granted the injunction, and the matter will return next week.
A former teacher at Templeogue College, Jennifer Clancy, has alleged that she was penalised after she and her colleagues raised concerns about student discipline and other issues at the school. She claims that the school environment had deteriorated significantly, with students feeling they had 'the run of the place' and teachers not feeling safe. Ms Clancy alleges that her employment contract was altered using Tipp-Ex to state she was on an annual contract rather than a permanent one. She also claims her timetable was changed in retaliation after she and ten other teachers signed a grievance document outlining 17 concerns about the school's management. Ms Clancy said she was subjected to a disciplinary meeting without being informed of the allegations against her. She further accused the principal, Niamh Quinn, of being aggressive and of making up a quote from a Department of Education circular to strengthen her case.
Vesel Jahiri, 43, was convicted of murdering Anna Finnegan, 25, and stabbing her brother Karl in 2012. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 after a jury found him guilty of both murders. Jahiri represented himself at the Court of Appeal, where he submitted a range of allegations, including claims that Gardaí conspired to manufacture evidence, that CCTV footage had been tampered with, and that he was denied the right to inspect the murder weapon. The three‑judge panel found his submissions to be inadmissible hearsay, unsupported assertions, and irrelevant material. They dismissed all grounds of appeal, stating that the trial judge had acted correctly and that Jahiri's claims had no evidential foundation. Jahiri, who appeared by videolink from Midlands Prison, said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. Vesel Jahiri pleaded not guilty.
On 7 March 2021, a Samaritans volunteer received a phone call claiming that explosives had been planted at the home of Minister for Justice Helen McEntee. The caller, identifying himself as the Irish National Liberation Organisation, said the password was "Red October" and that the threat related to a court case in Dublin the following day. The volunteer, who was on duty at the time, was shaken by the call and later reported it to her supervisor before contacting emergency services. She made a statement to Gardaí the next day. The call was traced to Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, where Michael Murray, a 52‑year‑old former resident of Seafield Road, Killiney, was imprisoned. Murray pleaded not guilty to a single count of knowingly making a false report that caused apprehension for the safety of another. His trial, opened on 27 February 2024 before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury, is expected to last one week.
Moise Muhula, 54, was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to assault causing harm for repeatedly stabbing his former partner in the shoulder during a dispute over dinner. On 22 December 2017, at the partner's home in west Dublin, the couple argued when he asked about dinner and she told him to leave. He became aggressive, obtained a knife, and entered the sitting room where the victim was watching TV. He threatened her, stabbed her at least three times in the shoulder, punched her, and took her upstairs. The victim was treated for four shoulder wounds and a head injury. The court noted the incident was a one‑off, the use of a knife and the relationship were aggravating factors, but the guilty plea and lack of prior convictions were mitigating. Judge Martin Nolan imposed the 21‑month sentence.
Enoch Burke, a teacher, remains in Mountjoy Prison after refusing to comply with a court order to stay away from Wilson's Hospital School in Co. Westmeath. Judge Mark Sanfey noted that Burke has not paid any of the fines imposed by the High Court last year or the costs orders made against him by the courts in favour of the school. Burke, who claims he is being punished for his religious beliefs and opposition to transgenderism, said he has spent almost a year behind bars because he was being punished for his religious belief, his opposition to transgenderism and his refusal to comply with a direction from the school to address a student by a different pronoun. The judge adjourned the matter to late March to review the "profoundly unsatisfactory situation" and to consider possible alternatives to Burke's ongoing imprisonment, including sequestration of his assets.
Daniel Martin, aged 47, was sentenced to 13 years in prison, with the final year suspended for three years, for a series of sexual offences against a teenage girl aged 15-16 between 2019 and 2020. The offences included sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, oral rape, anal rape, vaginal rape and sexual exploitation. He also received a 12‑year sentence for a child‑trafficking offence involving a second teenage girl aged 14-15, and a 10‑year sentence for the sexual assault offences. Martin was additionally jailed for two years for causing a child to watch pornography. The judge noted the deliberate, calculated nature of the campaign, the use of drugs and threats, and the significant impact on the victim. The sentences are concurrent, and Martin was not given a post‑release supervision order due to the suspension conditions. Daniel Martin was convicted.
David Hackman, 24, was jailed for four and a half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to purchase a firearm in suspicious circumstances between 31 March and 28 May 2019. Gardaí observed a silver Ford Focus near a Spar in Waterville, Dublin 15, where Hackman and three other occupants, including his mother, were found. A search revealed a 9mm firearm, orange latex gloves, and evidence of a €4,000 cash transaction between Hackman and his mother. Hackman's mother was charged but the case against her was dropped following his guilty plea. Hackman has prior convictions for assault and drug possession. The court noted his youth, addiction issues, and the mitigating circumstances of his background, and rejected a post‑release drug treatment condition. The sentence reflects the offence's mid‑range sentencing guidelines of seven to ten years.
Trade unionist Brendan Ogle claims his role at Unite's Irish office was "decimated" after surviving cancer, alleging discrimination under the Employment Equality Act 1998. He says he was told by the union's general secretary that he would be written out of plans for Ireland, and that a directive was issued preventing him from being involved in his former duties. Ogle's lawyer, Mary‑Paula Guinness, argues that his responsibilities were drastically reduced and that the union failed to accommodate him. The Workplace Relations Commission is hearing Ogle's statutory complaint, which has been reduced to a single claim of discrimination after he withdrew three complaints of penalisation under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. Unite's counsel, Mark Harty, maintains that Ogle has not established a comparator and that the union took all possible steps to accommodate him. The case will run for up to eight days, with a potential witness summons for the union's general secretary.
In the Central Criminal Court, a 28‑year‑old Offaly woman presented a victim impact statement after her brother, who pleaded guilty to rape, oral rape and sexual assault between 2004 and 2007, abused her from age 11 to 15. She described how the abuse occurred in the brother's bedroom, with the brother locking doors, using a pillow over her head or a hand over her mouth to silence her, and forcing her to watch pornography. She said the brother threatened to kill her and forced her to have sex with another boy during a holiday when she was 11. The woman said she had withdrawn her complaint after her brother's suicide attempt, then re‑filed it three years later. She reported ongoing mental‑health effects such as anxiety, nightmares, PTSD and feelings of worthlessness. Justice Mary Ellen Ring thanked her for the statement, called it "very impressive," and adjourned sentencing to March 8.
In a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court hearing, two repeat offenders, Cian Cleary (23) and Patrick McCarthy (28), were sentenced for a "cowardly, nasty and violent" assault on twin American tourists aged 20. The incident occurred on July 19 when the men were walking home through Temple Bar. Cleary, who had 61 prior convictions, and McCarthy, with 18 prior convictions, attacked the tourists, punching, kicking, and robbing one of them. CCTV footage showed the attackers separating the brothers, assaulting them, and stealing a wallet and mobile phone. Cleary received a three‑year, three‑month sentence with nine months suspended; McCarthy received a two‑and‑a‑half‑year sentence with twelve months suspended. Both were warned that the suspended portions could be enforced if they reoffend during probation. The court noted the assault's severity and the victims' injuries, including a brain scan for one and a sore, shaken condition for the other. Cian Cleary pleaded guilty. Patrick McCarthy pleaded guilty.
Stephen Corbally, a 28‑year‑old hairdresser, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and disqualified from driving for four years after a series of hijackings and vehicle thefts in April 2023. Corbally pretended to test‑drive cars advertised for sale on Facebook Marketplace and Done Deal. On 5 April he drove off a 2008 Volvo after a test drive; on 20 April he took a 2012 Renault from a seller in Mulhuddart, brandishing a kitchen knife while the seller was in the car, and fled the scene. The next day he offered to swap the Renault for an Audi in Carpenterstown, claiming the car belonged to his late mother, and was caught by Gardaí driving the Audi. He had no licence and had been disqualified for 12 years. Corbally pleaded guilty to hijacking, taking a vehicle, dangerous driving and deception.
James McGinn, 35, of Bray, was found guilty of possession of drugs for sale or supply after a search of his home revealed €197,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis. He pleaded guilty on 22 January 2023. The court noted his four prior convictions for minor traffic offences and his admission that he was holding the drugs to reduce an €8,000 debt. McGinn's case was marked by the tragic loss of his two children and another family member in a 2017 house fire, which his defence argued was the root of his addiction. Judge Martin Nolan, citing these exceptional circumstances, imposed a sentence of four and a half years, suspending the final three years on strict conditions. The remaining one and a half years of custodial time were to be served, with the court recognising McGinn's previous good conduct and his 11‑month period of sobriety. The sentence was delivered on 26 February 2024.
The High Court approved a Personal Insolvency Arrangement for 70‑year‑old widow Marian Phillips, allowing her to address about €2.4 million of debt while staying in her home at Kenley Close, Model Farm Road, Cork. Phillips had fallen into financial difficulty because of high interest rates on loans from lenders. Her creditors include Start Mortgages DAC (over €2 million owed), Cabot Financial, the Revenue Commissioners, a property management company and a solicitors' firm. Under the arrangement, four buy‑to‑let residential properties owned by Phillips – three in Cork and one in Clonmel, County Tipperary – valued at just over €1 million will be sold to satisfy secured creditors. The remaining debts will be written off. Phillips will also enter a State‑approved Mortgage‑to‑Rent/Social Tenancy scheme for her principal private residence, a semi‑detached three‑bedroom house valued at about €345,000.
In February 2024 the Court of Appeal quashed the acquittals of Jamie Berry (28) and Stephen Mulvey (32) in the attempted murder of a 17‑year‑old Dublin teenager. The original trial judge, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon, had directed a jury to find both men not guilty due to insufficient evidence. The appeal court, led by Mr Justice George Birmingham, held that the prosecution had presented ample circumstantial evidence – including CCTV footage of vehicles, forensic findings of firearm residue on gloves, and the recovery of a pistol in a burned‑out Hyundai – sufficient for a jury to convict. Mr Justice Birmingham noted that the trial judge had effectively acted as a jury by dismissing the case, and therefore the acquittals were overturned and a retrial was ordered at the Central Criminal Court. The case remains pending for the next hearing.
A 45-year-old man from Limerick has been remanded for sentencing following his guilty plea to making a vehicle available to an organised crime gang for use as a getaway car in an attempted murder. Larry McCarthy pleaded guilty in October 2023 to an offence contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment. The incident occurred in June 2015 when two gunmen fired 13 rounds at Christy Keane as he sat in his vehicle at University of Limerick gym, causing four gunshot wounds. McCarthy assisted in positioning both a red Ford Focus and a white Volvo Estate used by the gunmen to escape. The Special Criminal Court heard evidence of the decades-long feud between the McCarthy-Dundon and Keane-Collopy criminal organisations. Defence counsel submitted that McCarthy has since relocated to Donegal, maintained employment and education engagement, and has not offended in nearly a decade. Ms Justice Caroline Biggs adjourned the case until 11 March for sentencing.
A former driver for Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has alleged that he was let go in a 'sham' redundancy process, leaving him with no choice but to accept a severance package or take a temporary clerical role at the Department of Social Protection. The change occurred in 2022 when the government decided to assign ministerial drivers to the Garda on security grounds, reversing a previous decision to civilianise the role. Trevor Shaw, who worked as a ministerial driver from 2004 to 2022, claimed the process failed to respect his employment rights. The Department of Agriculture denied any breach of rights, stating the decision was based on security advice. The Workplace Relations Commission is hearing the complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.
The Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of a 44‑year‑old man convicted of raping and sexually assaulting his daughter over eight years. He had been sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment, with the final year suspended, after a 2020 trial at the Central Criminal Court. The appellant claimed he lacked proper legal representation, alleging a legal executive, not a solicitor, had taken notes of consultations. The court found the trial was conducted in due course of law, noting affidavits from his former legal team and that the appellant was represented by a senior counsel. The appeal was dismissed, and the man will remain in prison. The case involved a complex family and community context, but the court focused on procedural issues rather than the substantive allegations. The decision was delivered by Ms Justice Burns. The unnamed 44-year-old pleaded not guilty.
Noel Foran, 61, of Lucan, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in July 2023 after pleading guilty to ten sexual assaults on his stepdaughter between 1991 and 1998. The judge imposed 18‑month sentences on the first and tenth charges to run consecutively, while the remaining eight were considered together. Foran's appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed on 26 February 2024, with Justice Tara Burns ruling that the sentencing judge had no error in principle in imposing consecutive sentences. Foran admitted to touching his stepdaughter's vagina while she slept, claiming the acts never progressed beyond touching and that he masturbated. He had no prior convictions and had engaged in counselling at the Granada Institute. The victim, Irene Cullen, gave a victim‑impact statement describing lasting PTSD, self‑harm, and prolonged hospital stays. The Court of Appeal upheld the full three‑year term, rejecting the appeal for a reduced sentence.
John Murphy, a 43‑year‑old married secondary school teacher, was found guilty of sexually exploiting a 16‑year‑old girl via Instagram between June 2017 and June 2018 and of possessing child pornography in 2008 and 2010. He pleaded guilty at Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court in July 2023. The Court of Appeal, after reviewing a probation report that highlighted Murphy's hostility to women, medium risk of reoffending, and the serious impact on the victim, ruled that the original one‑year sentence was too lenient. The appeal court doubled the sentence to three years, suspended the final 12 months, and clarified that the effective custodial term is 24 months. The decision was based on aggravating factors such as the prolonged communication, explicit sexual content, and the victim's vulnerability, while mitigating factors like Murphy's lack of prior convictions and cooperation with Gardaí were deemed insufficient to offset the seriousness of the offences.
Sandra Hehir (56), sister of convicted drug dealer Christy Keane, was sentenced at the Special Criminal Court to three years and six months in prison for money laundering. The final year of the sentence was suspended for two years, conditional on good behaviour. Mr Justice Michael MacGrath found that Hehir knew the €124,055 found in her attic and funds in her bank accounts were proceeds of crime. Although she had no direct involvement in the Keane group's criminality, the judge stated she was not a passive participant in laundering. Hehir pleaded guilty in October last year to handling, acquiring, and possessing the cash, knowing it was the proceeds of criminal conduct, under Section 7 of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. In mitigation, the court noted her early guilty plea, lack of previous convictions, and good employment record as a hairdresser. The judge acknowledged her likely difficulty adjusting to prison at age 56 and a probation report indicating low reoffending risk. The case stemmed from a 2020 anti-money laundering operation targeting the Keane Organised Crime Group. During the search of her Limerick City home, €124,055 in 13 bundles was found in the attic. The court also heard that Warren Hehir (33), Christy Keane's nephew, was sentenced in July last year to five years and three months, with the final 12 months suspended, for laundering €59,000 through house renovation works.
The Special Criminal Court heard details of Declan 'Mr Nobody' Brady's involvement in facilitating the murder of Noel Kirwan, who was shot dead outside his home in Dublin in December 2016. Bernadette Roe, Kirwan's partner, told the court that her 'soulmate had his life extinguished' because he was photographed walking to the funeral of life-long neighbour, Eddie Hutch. Kirwan's daughter, Donna, stated that Brady and his co-defendants should have known her father was an innocent man. Gardai have confirmed that Kirwan was not involved in criminality and was targeted by the Kinahan cartel due to a false belief he might be linked to the Hutch organisation. Brady was caught on CCTV near a car dealership where a tracking device was removed from Kirwan's BMW and placed on his new Ford Mondeo. Gardai found a laptop used to communicate with the tracker and a toothbrush with DNA matching Brady. However, Det Supt Mark O'Neill confirmed that Brady's DNA was not found on the laptop and that there is no evidence he owned or operated it. Brady, who is already serving 11.5 years in prison for supervising a firearms arsenal and eight years and three months for laundering crime cash, was adjourned to April 30 to allow a probation report to be prepared. Previous Brady pleaded guilty in July 2019 to supervising a firearms arsenal and was sentenced to 11.5 years in prison with the final year suspended. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to laundering more than €400,000 in crime cash and was sentenced to eight years and three months with the final year suspended, in a term which was to run from April 2021.
The High Court has granted Tumblr permission to challenge a decision by Coimisiún Na Mean that classifies it as a video‑sharing platform service (VSPS) under a new online safety code. Tumblr argues it is not a VSPS, claiming its video content is minimal and that the Commission failed to consider data it supplied. The court set a hearing for May, after a similar challenge by Reddit, and noted the cases should not be heard together due to legal differences and service types. Tumblr seeks orders quashing the December 28 decision, declarations that the decision is invalid, misapplies EU law and the 2009 Broadcasting Act, and is incompatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Commission is expected to contest both matters.
Michael Delaney, a 50‑year‑old transport manager for Rehab Group, pleaded guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to stealing €6,000 from the charity by secretly selling three company trucks he claimed were scrapped. The theft, uncovered during an internal audit in 2021, occurred between 11 April 2019 and 29 December 2021. Delaney resigned in December 2021 and agreed to repay the money, having paid €600 to date and presenting €5,400 in cash at the hearing. He has one minor prior conviction for a road traffic offence. Defending counsel Colm Hennessy noted Delaney's cooperation and early guilty plea. Judge Martin Nolan, recognising Delaney's candid admissions and good work history, imposed a nine‑month suspended sentence and ordered the €5,400 to be handed over to the charity.
A 29‑year‑old Dublin man was sentenced to four and a half years' imprisonment, with the final six months suspended, for sexually assaulting his partner's little brother between October 2013 and August 2015. The victim, aged seven to ten at the time, was abused while the man was babysitting him and had gained his trust as a family member. The man pleaded guilty to sexual assault, not rape, after the complainant's description of the assault was deemed "imprecise". He had previously been convicted of intimidating witnesses in the same case, a fact the judge highlighted as relevant. The judge also noted the man's history of threatening to murder the victim and his relatives, including a series of threatening WhatsApp messages to his estranged wife. The sentence was back‑dated to 18 December 2023, and the man was ordered to have no contact with the victim indefinitely.
In a Workplace Relations Commission hearing, Jasmine Olaru, an 18‑year‑old teenage worker at a Domino's Pizza shop in Dublin, alleged that the deputy manager gave her a name badge featuring a pair of breasts and repeatedly threatened her with a shovel, suggested she create pornographic content, and asked if he could watch her change. She also claimed that delivery drivers propositioned her for sex and that a shift manager told her she could masturbate later. Olaru said the shop's environment was highly sexualised, with men often shouting at women on the street. She reported that the store manager was absent for six weeks in July and August 2022, during which time several incidents occurred. After resigning, she said she was clocked out early by managers, which her lawyer argued was victimisation.
The Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling that two children, who had arrived in Ireland with their parents in 2021, were not wrongfully retained. The appellate panel, consisting of Justices Whelan, Ni Raifeartaigh and Power, held that the children had indeed been wrongfully retained by their mother, breaching the father's custody rights, and should be returned to their country of birth. The High Court had dismissed the father's application under the Hague Convention, finding that the mother's retention was not wrongful and that the father had consented to the children remaining in Ireland. The Court of Appeal noted that the father had not truly consented, citing a brief, pressured text message in 2022 that was not clear or unambiguous. The appellate court ordered the children's return, subject to the father's undertaking to pay for their journey home and to allow the mother to reside with them at the family home if she wished to return.
Craig Maples, 28, of Green Briar, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for violent disorder and assault causing serious harm after he kicked and stamped on Austin Doherty's head during a 45‑second attack in Mulhuddart on 21 July 2022. Doherty, who was left in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, now has limited mobility, requires a wheelchair for long distances and suffers significant impairments. He described his life as being in his own prison and missing key moments with his children. The court heard that the assault began after a dispute in a casino, with Maples arriving in a car and joining two other men who continued the attack. Maples pleaded guilty, showed remorse, and had no prior convictions. Judge Martin Nolan set a headline sentence of 12 years, reduced to seven years after mitigating factors such as early guilty plea and cooperation.
Pamela Bird, 40, of Ringsend, Dublin, pleaded guilty to robbery, two attempted robbery and one theft between 29 September and 3 November 2021. She was the getaway driver in a series of shop robberies in Dublin, driving a wine‑coloured Toyota Corolla that fled the scenes. Bird had 194 prior convictions, 114 of them thefts. Garda evidence included CCTV footage of her arriving at a petrol station, loading fuel, and later driving the co‑accused away from a shop after he attempted robbery. Bird admitted to driving and changing licence plates, stating the offences were planned to obtain money for drugs. She had a history of heroin use and had been in rehabilitation. The court, noting her early guilty plea and admissions, imposed a two‑year custodial sentence, crediting six months already served, to run from the hearing date.
A 59-year-old man has pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to twelve counts including rape, oral rape, and sexual assault committed against two victims over separate periods. The charges relate to offences occurring primarily in Dublin and Kildare, with one incident on the road between Sligo and Dublin. The first victim was between twelve and seventeen years old when abused from 1992 to 1997 by a family friend employed in her parents' business. The second victim, the niece of his former partner, was aged eleven to seventeen when assaulted between 2000 and 2006. Both complainants provided impact statements describing lasting psychological harm and the abuse of trust. The defendant acknowledged the serious aggravating factors, including the age disparity and exploitation of familial relationships. Mr Justice Tony Hunt adjourned sentencing to 8 April, noting the man will likely face community release following imprisonment and stating sex offenders require careful judicial scrutiny. The defendant remains in custody.
A 31-year-old man was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for assault, trespassing, obstruction of a police officer, and breaching a protection order. The defendant, who cannot be named to protect the victim's anonymity, pleaded guilty to charges arising from incidents at a Dublin address between December 14, 2022, and February 26, 2023. Judge Martin Nolan described the events as three frightening incidents involving the defendant's former partner. During the first incident, the man allegedly attacked the woman and had to be restrained by gardai using pepper spray. He subsequently breached a protection order on two further occasions, with the final incident requiring the intervention of the armed support unit. The court noted the defendant has 59 previous convictions. Judge Nolan sentenced him to a total of three and a half years in prison. This sentence was backdated to the date he entered custody on this matter. The judge acknowledged the defendant's guilty plea and his good behavior in custody, where he is currently working in the kitchens, but emphasized his long history of offending.
In a case described by the judge as "bizarre", a 75‑year‑old Canadian man, Edward Bystrom, was arrested on Temple Street, Dublin, on 3 September 2023 for possession of over €80,000 worth of cocaine. Gardaí found two black packages of white powder in his laptop bag, which tested positive for cocaine. Bystrom, who had no prior convictions in Ireland or elsewhere, told the police that he had been asked by "agents of the United Nations" to collect money. He claimed to have travelled from Canada to New York, Brazil and back to the USA before arriving in Ireland, and said he had not profited from the drugs. He pleaded guilty. Judge Martin Nolan sentenced him to two years' imprisonment, suspended 18 months, and ordered him to leave Ireland within a week of release and not to return for ten years.
At a High Court hearing, Mr Justice Mark Sanfey excluded several members of Enoch Burke's family, including Isaac Burke, from attending next week's review of Enoch Burke's ongoing refusal to stay away from Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath. The judge ruled that Sean, Martina, Isaac, and Ammi Burke could not attend due to their disruptive behavior, which included shouting and roaring on several occasions in court. The court offered the family members the opportunity to attend if they provided undertakings not to disrupt the proceedings, otherwise they would be allowed to view the hearing via video link. The family members, including Dr Isaac Burke, strongly objected to their exclusion. During the hearing, Dr Burke was physically removed from the courtroom by gardai after he refused to comply with the judge's direction to leave. Enoch Burke, via a video link from Mountjoy Prison, also addressed the court, claiming he had no advance warning of the application to exclude his family members and accused the judge and other members of the judiciary of being 'liars.' Mr Justice Sanfey stated that the court had written to the family members in advance regarding the proposal to exclude them and that their past behavior at previous hearings had been a factor in the decision. The judge emphasized that the court was entitled to take steps to maintain good order and that the constitutional rights of the public to attend court had been considered. The matter is currently at the appeal stage.
A US‑based Irish dancing teacher and adjudicator, Vinny O'Connor, obtained a temporary injunction from the High Court in Dublin that allows him to act as an examiner at an Irish dancing event in Boston this weekend. The injunction was sought because the governing body, An Coimisiún Le Rincí Galeacha, is based in Dublin and could prevent his participation. Mr O'Connor had earlier received a written warning from the body for breaching its code of conduct and social media guidelines, which bars him from adjudicating at major events for the sanction period. He argues that the warning does not prohibit him from serving as an examiner, a separate role. The judge, with some reluctance, granted the interim order after noting that exclusion would damage his reputation and that the body had not clarified the sanction's effect on his examiner duties. The order was granted ex‑parte and the case will return next week.
A 77‑year‑old man was threatened with a stabbing and had his €40,000 car hijacked while listening to a true‑crime podcast. Max Corcoran (21) and a co‑accused entered the underground parking of the man's apartment complex, forced him out of the car, struck him in the jaw, took his keys and phone, and drove the vehicle into the parking gate. Unable to open the gate, they reversed the car to smash it, causing €24,536 in damage. The car was later found burnt out elsewhere in Dublin. Corcoran, who had 14 prior convictions, pleaded guilty to possession of a motor vehicle without consent and criminal damage. Judge Martin Nolan, noting Corcoran's cooperation, remorse and mitigating factors, sentenced him to 20 months' imprisonment, back‑dated to his March 2023 arrest.
Leigh Deegan, 23, of Coolock, pleaded guilty to possession of the proceeds of crime after his bank account was used in an invoice redirect fraud involving St Andrew's College. Gardaí were alerted when staff discovered a change in the IT services company's bank details and a €11,480 payment had been lodged. €9,200 was transferred to Deegan's account and withdrawn in three ATM transactions. Deegan claimed he lost his debit card and someone guessed his PIN. Gardaí agreed he was not the mastermind but a "cog" in the scheme and was cooperative. He had no prior convictions and was 19 at the time of the offence. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a one‑year suspended sentence on strict conditions and directed that €5,000 be paid to the school within two weeks or to a local charity if the school declined it. The judge noted Deegan's mental health difficulties and his apprenticeship as a plumber.