Court archive
Court reports mentioning Blackpool, Cork
2025-07-15 · Cork
Marcus Duggan, aged 53, appealed his conviction for two indecent assaults and one rape committed between 1983 and 1991 against his younger sister, Yvonne Ratcliffe, aged 52. He argued that evidence of alleged prior sexual misconduct, including pornographic videos viewed in the family home and claims that he had sex with his sister at about eight or nine, should not have been admitted to the jury. His counsel contended that such evidence was prejudicial and irrelevant, and that a hearsay statement from Ratcliffe's father that "Marcus was sorry for what he did" was improperly admitted. The Director of Public Prosecutions defended the admissibility of the background evidence and the father's statement, stating it was not an admission of guilt. The appeal was lodged at the Court of Appeal, with the court reserving judgment. The original trial resulted in a five‑year sentence, with the final year suspended on strict conditions. The case remains at the appeal stage. Marcus Duggan pleaded not guilty.
2025-05-06 · Cork
In a trial at the Central Criminal Court, Richard Satchwell, aged 58, pleaded not guilty to the murder of his 45‑year‑old wife, Tina Satchwell, who was found dead in a shallow grave beneath their Cork home in October 2023. The jury heard that Satchwell told a detective in 2015 he believed his wife was still alive, and that he had previously attempted suicide because of her violence. He also claimed that on the night of her disappearance, March 19, 2017, she tried to stab him with a chisel, and that he had held her weight with a belt before she died. Satchwell's statements were taken under an enhanced cognitive interview, a witness‑led technique used by Gardaí. The case is set to continue before Mr Justice Paul McDermott with a jury of five men and seven women.
2025-05-06 · Cork
In the trial of Richard Satchwell, the jury heard that Gardaí used an enhanced cognitive interview to question him about his wife's disappearance. The detective sergeant explained that this method, considered a gold standard, is witness‑led and conducted away from a station in a relaxed setting. Mr Satchwell, 58, told Gardaí on 24 March 2017 that his wife had left the home four days earlier and that he had no concerns about her welfare. He reported her missing in May, but her body was not found until October 2023, when Gardaí discovered her decomposed remains in a grave beneath the stairs of her home. Prosecutor Gerardine Small said that after the body was recovered, Mr Satchwell claimed he fell when his wife tried to stab him with a chisel, and that she died in his arms. He has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45‑year‑old wife, Tina Satchwell, between 19 and 20 March 2017.
2024-07-31 · Cork
Marcus Duggan, aged 53, was convicted of two indecent assault and one rape offences committed between 1983 and 1991. The crimes involved his sister, Yvonne Ratcliffe, who was 12, 15 and 18 at the times of the incidents. In each case, Duggan's friends held her down while he assaulted or raped her. Ratcliffe, who waived anonymity, gave a victim impact statement describing the abuse, shame and isolation she endured. Prosecutor Patricia McLoughlin highlighted the family's poverty, neglect and exposure to pornography. Judge Tony Hunt sentenced Duggan to five years' imprisonment, suspending the final year on strict conditions, and directed that he have no contact with Ratcliffe. The sentence was back‑dated to the date of his custody. No other convictions or prior offences were recorded. Marcus Duggan pleaded not guilty.
2024-02-01 · Cork
Occupli Limited has brought a High Court action alleging that its former CEO, Chris Mee, and others unlawfully accessed and used the company's private, confidential and commercially sensitive information. The plaintiff claims that Mee, his daughter Catherine Mee, former employees Julie Twomey and Leah Murphy, and a firm allegedly owned by Mee, EHS International Ventures Ltd, have solicited Occupli's employees and clients, thereby damaging the company's economic interests and reputation. Occupli seeks temporary injunctions to prevent the defendants from interfering with, deleting, or using its information and to preserve any data on their IT systems. Mr Justice Mark Sanfey granted an interim injunction on an ex‑parte basis, noting that the defendants have strongly denied wrongdoing. The case remains adjourned, with the court allowing parties to return before the scheduled date. The action is based on alleged breaches of a prior settlement that included non‑compete and non‑solicitation provisions.
2023-07-17 · Cork
The High Court heard that Mr Wojciech Bialek, former chief executive of the Together‑Razem Centre, has complied with an injunction requiring him to vacate the charity's Cork offices. The injunction, obtained by the charity, prohibits Bialek and anyone aware of the order from removing, deleting or copying the charity's documents, transferring or withdrawing its funds, trespassing on its premises, or representing himself as an employee, trustee or chairperson. The court was told that the offices have been vacated and that Bialek denies the allegations. His lawyers requested time to respond fully. The charity claims Bialek resigned after an independent accountant raised questions about its accounting, and that he and others unlawfully attempted to remove board members, hold an invalid extraordinary general meeting, and seize control of the offices by changing the locks. The court set a timetable for document exchange and adjourned further proceedings to later this month. The charity has not yet regained possession of its offices.
2023-07-14 · Cork
In a High Court case on 14 July 2023, Together‑Razem Centre Company Limited secured a temporary injunction against its former CEO, Mr Wojciech Bialek, who allegedly seized the charity's offices after resigning in 2022. The charity, funded by the HSE and based in Cork, claims Bialek unlawfully took control of its premises at Kilnap Business Park, changed the locks, and threatened to alter or erase its records. The court heard that Bialek had been under investigation for financial and governance matters and that an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 11 July, which the charity says was invalid, removed the existing board and appointed new directors. The injunction, granted by Mr Justice Brian O'Moore, prohibits Bialek and others from removing, copying or transferring the charity's documents or funds, and bars them from representing themselves as officers of the charity. The order remains until the case returns to court on Monday.
2021-07-01 · Galway
The Court of Appeal refused to allow Marian Lingurar Jnr, 26, to appeal his conviction for the manslaughter of John Kenny, 56, who was killed in a burglary at Kenny's pub in Oughterard on 25 September 2011. The court considered the impact of new proceedings on the victim's family, ten years after the killing, and found the appeal had little chance of success. It will, however, allow Lingurar to appeal his nine‑year prison sentence. Lingurar, a Romanian national who had broken bail, fled Ireland, and returned under a false name, was found guilty by a jury in 2019. The judge noted that Lingurar was a juvenile at the time of the offence and that the family's impact would be less if the sentence were appealed rather than the conviction. The appeal of the sentence will be heard after the defence argues that the sentence was overly severe given Lingurar's youth.
2021-04-27 · Galway
Marian Lingurar Junior, 26, a Romanian national, is serving a nine‑year sentence for his role in the 2011 murder of John Kenny, a Galway publican, during a burglary. He has applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal, arguing that his appeal was mistakenly filed under his father's name and that his privacy rights were breached when Gardaí obtained phone records used at trial. The Court noted that Lingurar had breached bail, fled Ireland, and returned under a false name, delaying his trial until 2019. The Director of Public Prosecutions opposed the extension, citing insufficient evidence that the appeal would succeed and the need to protect the victim's family. The appeal's outcome remains pending. The case also involved a second burglary conviction for the same night.
2019-11-18 · Cork
In the Special Criminal Court, Eoin Morrissey (20) was sentenced for two counts of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of the killers of Aidan O'Driscoll. Having pleaded guilty, Morrissey received two two-year suspended sentences on each count. Mr Justice Hunt, sitting with Judges Gerard Griffin and Ann Ryan, cited Morrissey's age, positive probation report, progress since 2016, and willingness to perform community service as mitigating factors. The court ordered him to enter a €100 bond. The judge warned that this was a unique opportunity and that further offending would likely result in custody. Earlier in April, co-accused Colin Casey (32) and Daniel Hegarty (24) were convicted on four counts of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of O'Driscoll's killers. Both pleaded guilty. Casey was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, while Hegarty was jailed for four years. The court noted that Casey and Hegarty provided substantial assistance, including burning vehicles and burying evidence, whereas Morrissey's involvement was less proximate, limited to providing a fire-lighter and transport after the events. The State acknowledged it could not prove the defendants knew a murder was planned. O'Driscoll, a Real IRA figure, was shot in Cork in December 2016.
2019-04-12 · Cork
Two men, Colin Casey (32) and Daniel Hegarty (24), were jailed for assisting the murder of Aidan "The Beast" O'Driscoll, who was shot on Cork's Old Commons Road in December 2016. Casey was sentenced to four years and six months, Hegarty to four years, both sentences running concurrently. They pleaded guilty to four counts each of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of O'Driscoll's killers. Casey supplied the alleged gunmen with vehicles and acted as a support driver; Hegarty transported and concealed a bag linked to the killers and set fire to a motorbike and a red Opel Astra. A third man, Eoin Morrissey (19), pleaded guilty to two counts of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of the killers and was given a suspended sentence of two years, with a probation report to be finalised in October. The Special Criminal Court, presided over by Justice Tony Hunt, found the defendants' assistance to be substantial and proximate to the murder.
2019-03-11 · Cork
Aidan "The Beast" O'Driscoll, a senior Real IRA member, was shot four times on Old Commons Road, Blackpool, Cork, on 7 December 2016. The Special Criminal Court heard that the killing was part of an internal dispute between the Real IRA and the New IRA. Colin Casey (32) and Daniel Hegarty (24) pleaded guilty to four counts of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of O'Driscoll's killers, while Eoin Morrissey (19) pleaded guilty to two such counts. Casey collected the alleged gunmen from Redemption Road, drove them in a white Vauxhall Astra van that he later burned, and was involved in the disposal of the Nissan Almera used by the killers. Hegarty buried a bag used by the killers and set fire to a Honda motorbike and a red Opel Astra. Morrissey supplied a firelighter and followed Hegarty to the site where the Opel Astra was burned.
2018-12-21 · Cork
A 19‑year‑old man, Eoin Morrissey, appeared before the Special Criminal Court on 21 January 2018 charged in connection with the murder of Aidan "The Beast" O'Driscoll, a senior Real IRA figure who was shot dead in Cork on 7 December 2016. Morrissey is charged with impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Daniel Hegarty by providing a firelighter to burn a red Opel Astra used by the alleged killers and by following Hegarty to a site where a red Opel Astra was burnt to facilitate transport after the burning. The offences are alleged to have occurred between 8 and 19 December 2016. The Director of Public Prosecutions applied for a Section 49 order and the court directed that Morrissey be tried before the Special Criminal Court. The case was set for mention on 21 January. Earlier, Colin Casey (32) and Daniel Hegarty (24) pleaded guilty to related charges and were remanded on continuing bail until 11 March.
2018-10-08 · Cork
Two men, Colin Casey, 32, and Daniel Hegarty, 24, appeared before the Special Criminal Court on 8 October 2018 charged in connection with the murder of Aidan "The Beast" O'Driscoll, 37, who was shot on 7 December 2016 in Blackpool, Cork. Both men were charged under the Offences Against the State Act. Casey faced four charges: impeding the apprehension or prosecution of the alleged killers by collecting them from Redemption Road after they arrived in a silver Nissan Almera, driving them from that location in a white Vauxhall Astra, burning out the Nissan and the Vauxhall, and driving them away in a red Opel Astra.
2018-03-21 · Dublin
Albert Redmond, 43, was sentenced to three years in prison for a series of thefts, including trespassing and stealing bank cards and cash. He admitted to entering a Dublin city centre office twice, taking a cheque worth almost €9,500, and depositing it into his own account before traveling to Blackpool. While on holiday, he claimed the money was stolen from him, which he said gave him some empathy for victims. Redmond also pleaded guilty to stealing €28 in cash at a Spar, €28 at a bank, and €9,479 at Permanent TSB, among other offences. He had 294 prior convictions, mainly for trespass, theft, and burglary. The judge, noting Redmond's lack of violence and his personal struggles, imposed a three‑year sentence, back‑dated to his June 2023 custody entry.
2013-12-12 · Cork
John English, 36, a rapist convicted of raping an Australian tourist in 2002, was re‑sentenced to 18 years with five years suspended in 2004. He was released in September 2012 but re‑arrested after breaching the suspended term by drinking alcohol. In February 2013, a judge re‑activated the five‑year jail term. English appealed, arguing that the obligation to comply with probation recommendations applied from 2004, not from his release. The Court of Criminal Appeal accepted this technical point and granted him bail pending the appeal. Bail conditions include abstaining from alcohol, keeping the peace, good behaviour, signing in at Mayfield Garda Station on specific days, and surrendering his passport. The case will be mentioned again on 12 February 2014.
2013-10-21 · Cork
A 37‑year‑old Cork mother of three, Catherine O'Connor, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her 42‑year‑old neighbour, John Forrester, on 12 November 2011. O'Connor pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court. Forrester's body was found on 15 November 2011 in the River Bandon, wrapped in carpet and tied with a belt from O'Connor's cardigan. The autopsy revealed blunt force trauma, asphyxia, a broken hyoid bone, bruising to the throat, a fractured skull, broken ribs, a broken hip and lacerations to the head and mouth. Evidence included O'Connor's fingerprints on a broken Man Utd cup and Forrester's blood on a mobile phone in her flat. O'Connor had been in custody since 28 January 2012 and had 55 prior convictions, including a previous murder. Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed a mandatory life sentence, and O'Connor was led away in a grey hooded jacket, black trousers and boots.