Court archive
Court reports mentioning Ballyvaughan, Clare
2024-05-08 · Dublin
Paul Burgess, aged 43, was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment for assisting a 16‑year‑old boy in an assault that left Kean Doherty, 19, with a catastrophic brain injury. The assault took place on 28 December 2018 at Ballyvaughan Lane, Lucan, when the boy struck Doherty after Burgess had driven him to the area, pushed him against railings and forced him to the ground. Doherty had recently been released from the National Rehabilitation Hospital after a road‑traffic accident and was highly vulnerable. The court heard medical reports showing the assault exacerbated Doherty's injuries. Burgess claimed he had no knowledge of Doherty's vulnerability and had not intended the violence, but the judge found his assistance created a dangerous situation and imposed the custodial term. The teenager received a formal caution and was dealt with under the youth diversion scheme. The case was heard in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Paul Burgess pleaded guilty.
2017-03-20 · Clare
Colm Deely, aged 45, was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for the manslaughter of 43‑year‑old Deirdre McCarthy. The case arose after McCarthy's body washed up on Fanore Beach, Co Clare, after Deely had dumped her in the sea. Deely had earlier been convicted of murder in 2013, but that conviction was quashed because the forensic work of Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar had not been peer‑reviewed. In January 2017 Deely pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter at a hearing in the Central Criminal Court. The judge, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, noted that the offence was aggravated by Deely's callous disposal of the body and his return to work with McCarthy's brother shortly after the killing. The sentence was imposed in the absence of evidence that would have supported a murder charge, and the judge emphasised the substantial period of imprisonment required for the killing.
2017-03-13 · Clare
In a Central Criminal Court hearing on 13 March 2017, Helen Geoghegan, sister of Deirdre McCarthy, delivered a victim‑impact statement describing the profound grief and lasting trauma her family endured after McCarthy's strangulation and body was dumped in the sea near Fanore Beach on 31 March 2011. Geoghegan recalled McCarthy as a kind, family‑loving woman who enjoyed Christmas and birthdays, and lamented that her mother died of a broken heart and that sleepless nights have become part of the family's daily life. She noted that the accused, Colm Deely, 45, had worked with McCarthy's brother the day after the murder and had shown no remorse. The court heard that Deely had admitted to Gardaí that he killed McCarthy, who he had known since childhood, and that the cause of death was manual strangulation. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy remanded Deely in custody and adjourned sentencing until 20 March. Colm Deely pleaded not guilty.
2017-01-16 · Clare
In a Central Criminal Court hearing on 16 January 2017, Colm Deely, aged 44, admitted to manslaughter in the death of Deirdre McCarthy, 43, whose body was found on Fanore Beach on 31 March 2011. Deely had originally pleaded not guilty to murder and was convicted in June 2013, receiving a life sentence. The conviction was quashed in December 2016 after the Court of Appeal discovered that the state pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar's evidence had not been peer‑reviewed, a procedural flaw highlighted by Deely's defence lawyer Gearoid Geraghty. The court ordered a retrial, and Deely pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The plea was accepted by the State, sentencing was adjourned until 13 March, and Deely was remanded in custody until that date. The case underscores the impact of unreviewed forensic evidence on criminal proceedings.
2016-03-14 · Clare
In March 2011, Colm Deely of Ballyvaughan was convicted of murdering 43‑year‑old Deirdre McCarthy. The Central Criminal Court found him guilty of killing her between 11 pm on 27 March and noon the next day. After her body was discovered, Deely stabbed himself in the stomach and was hospitalised. He claimed he had not intended to kill her, saying she had blackmailed him and that she laughed at him. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and is set to appeal the conviction in June 2016.
2015-04-16 · Clare
Dr Liam Glynn, a GP practising in Ballyvaughan and Fanore, Co Clare, has filed a High Court action against the HSE after it ruled he was no longer eligible for the Rural Practice Allowance. The scheme pays doctors who work in rural centres with fewer than 500 residents and no town of 1,500 or more within three miles. Glynn's practice serves a panel of 766 patients and he argues that Ballyvaughan's population of 258 and the nearest 1,500‑plus town being ten miles away meet the scheme's criteria. He claims the HSE used incorrect criteria and that the decision has left his practice financially unsustainable. Glynn seeks injunctions to prevent the HSE from terminating or altering his 2005 contract, to compel payment of the allowance, and to declare the HSE's decision null and void. The case was granted short‑notice service and is set for a return hearing next week.