Court of Appeal affirms refusal of relief for man on murder charge

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the refusal of relief to a man who had been remanded on a murder charge and was seeking transfer from Cloverhill Prison to the Central Mental Hospital. The appeal decision was made on 1 April 2021.

The man, identified as SM, was a young man with a history of psychiatric illness and homelessness. In December 2020, the High Court considered his challenge under Article 40.4 of the Constitution, seeking habeas corpus over the failure to provide appropriate medical treatment and transfer him to the hospital. Six people were ahead of him on the waiting list, and the High Court refused relief.

The High Court accepted that an egregious case might meet the standard for unlawful detention but found that the standard had not been met in SM’s case, mainly because he continued to receive prison in-reach treatment. The report also said there was evidence that this treatment was insufficient.

Ms Justice Hyland found that the order sought would allow SM to move ahead of others in the queue and warned that it could put pressure on the executive to spend resources on more hospital beds. The court said it was inappropriate for courts to make orders requiring the executive to spend resources or interfering with the operation of hospitals.

Affirming the decision, the President of the Court of Appeal described it as a “resources case” that was not properly brought under Article 40.4.