Courts / Longford / Report
Queen's visit bomb plotter seeks to have appeal heard in Irish
Summary
A 67-year-old man from Drumlish, County Longford, has sought to have his appeal heard in Irish at the Court of Appeal. Donall Billings was convicted by the Special Criminal Court of possessing an explosive substance at Longford railway station car park in May 2011, and of making false bomb reports during Queen Elizabeth's State visit to Ireland that same month. He was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years imprisonment. The charges included placing a device on a Dublin-bound bus and making hoax threats targeting Busáras, Sinn Féin headquarters, Dublin Castle, and Cork airport. Mr Justice George Birmingham indicated the case would return to a management list to facilitate proceedings conducted in Irish. Billings was not present at the hearing to fix dates for his appeal.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Queen's visit bomb plotter seeks to have appeal heard in Irish. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- May 16th, 2011 Incident
- May 16 Incident
- May 18, 2011 Incident
- May 20th Other
- May 16, 2011 Incident
- May 18th Other
- 2018-05-14 Publication
Case subjects
Appellant
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; Sentencing him to eight-and-a-half years imprisonment, Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding alongside Judge Martin Nolan and Judge Cormac Dunne, said that Billings was "perfectly entitled to hold a low opinion" of Queen Elizabeth and her visit to Ireland but "not entitled to express such an opinion by engaging in criminality". Billings, whose trial was heard in both Irish and English, has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence, which was expected to be given a date for hearing today.
Places mentioned
- Special Criminal Court
- The Special Criminal Court
- was made to Longford garda station
- Longford
Topics
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