Witness who travelled to Ayia Napa when he was due to give evidence will face trial for contempt

A witness from Killala, County Cork has been arrested and remanded in custody to face trial for contempt of court after failing to appear at proceedings in the High Court. Craig O'Donoghue, aged twenty, had been served with a witness order in May requiring him to give evidence at a juvenile's trial in late May. However, he travelled to Ayia Napa in Cyprus at the end of that month and did not attend court as required. He was arrested at Dublin Airport on the afternoon of July 2nd. Mr Justice David Keane remanded him in custody until July 12th at an out-of-hours sitting. The State believes the witness travelled to Cyprus deliberately to avoid giving evidence in the case involving a teenager accused of producing a knife at a Cork city house party in January 2020. The teenager's trial concluded with the Director of Public Prosecutions discontinuing the knife charge against him.