Accused person not entitled to give version of events in custody

The Court of Appeal has ruled that an accused person has no automatic entitlement to be questioned in custody by gardai before trial. The judgment arose from a case at Longford Circuit Criminal Court involving a man charged with endangerment of pedestrians in connection with driving offences from December 2016. The trial judge had directed an acquittal, finding that the failure to interview the accused violated his right to fair procedure by forcing him to give evidence if he wished to present a defence. The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the acquittal. President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, found the trial judge was in error. The court held that while an accused may respond when charged and present his version of events at trial through cross-examination or testimony, he has no entitlement to be detained and questioned, nor to have such an account protected from challenge. The appellate court concluded the acquittal direction was incorrect in law.