High Court refuses to stop prosecution despite finding blameworthy delay

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

The High Court refused to prohibit the prosecution of P.M., despite finding that the State’s delay was inordinate and blameworthy and breached his constitutional right to trial with due expedition. The court said the delay was not enough to meet the exceptional threshold for stopping prosecution on the serious charges.

P.M. was 15 at the time of the alleged February 2022 incident on Henry Street in Dublin. The court found that the delay deprived him of a reasonable possibility of having his case dealt with summarily in the Children Court, but held that this prejudice did not justify prohibiting the prosecution. It directed that the Circuit Court account for his age and individual circumstances when sentencing.