Courts / Dublin / Report

Jury to begin deliberating in Jobstown trial

Date
2017-06-23

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Tallaght

County
Dublin

Summary

The jury in the trial of six men accused of falsely imprisoning former Tánaiste Joan Burton and her adviser Karen O'Connell is due to begin deliberations on Monday. On day 36 at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Melanie Greally confirmed she will deliver her charge on Monday morning before the jury retires. The defendants, Michael Banks, Paul Murphy, Kieran Mahon, Michael Murphy, Frank Donaghy, and Scott Masterson, have all pleaded not guilty to the charge of falsely imprisoning the women by restricting their personal liberty without consent on November 15, 2014, at Fortunestown Road, Jobstown, Tallaght. The prosecution alleged the accused surrounded the victims' cars, with Sean Gillane SC citing video footage of Banks making gestures and yelling at the women. Defence counsel Ciaran O'Loughlin SC argued in closing submissions that the State failed to prove the specific offence of false imprisonment, suggesting the incident was caused by the large crowd size rather than deliberate intent. He urged the jury to disregard evidence of Banks' vulgar language towards a garda, stating such conduct is not a crime. The matter is now at the sentencing stage, with the jury set to determine the verdict following the judge's instructions.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Jury to begin deliberating in Jobstown trial. Charges or matters: falsely imprisoning. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

November 15, 2014 Other
2017-06-23 Publication

Why: "Maybe the reason for that was there were 250 to 300 people there and the sheer volume of people made it impossible for the cars to move," he said. CNI source report