Lay litigant in "citizen's arrest" attempt on judge

A lay litigant with addresses in County Mayo attempted to effect a citizen's arrest on a High Court judge, a solicitor and a barrister at the Four Courts on Thursday. Stephen Manning, who was before the court in judicial review proceedings relating to his conviction and subsequent incarceration in May 2017, made the request during a hearing before Mr Justice Michael MacGrath. Mr Manning sought to have the parties accompany him to a Garda station, citing grounds including perverting the course of justice. The judge had previously dismissed an application for his recusal from the substantive case. When the hearing resumed on Thursday to address a procedural matter regarding potential appeal to the Court of Appeal, Mr Manning raised the issue. Mr Justice MacGrath indicated the case was listed for a specific purpose and rose from the bench to allow other proceedings to continue. Members of An Garda Síochána present in court declined to detain any of the parties. Mr Manning subsequently left the courtroom.