The High Court has refused an application by Simeon Burke for release from Cloverhill Prison, finding after an Article 40 inquiry that his detention was lawful.
Mr Justice Cregan delivered the judgment on 14 April 2023. Burke had sought an inquiry into his detention, an order for his release and an order stopping District Court proceedings against him. The court refused the application. It did not quash the criminal proceedings.
The detention followed a disturbance during the Court of Appeal’s delivery of judgment in *The Board of Wilson’s Hospital School v Burke* on 7 March 2023. The judgment records conflicting accounts of the events. Burke said he was taking notes, had not been directed to leave and was seized and removed by Gardaí using excessive force. Garda evidence described interruptions in court, resistance as he was removed, and abusive behaviour outside the Four Courts.
Garda Conor O’Dwyer testified that he arrested Burke at about 3.12pm outside the Four Courts under section 24 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, in connection with an alleged section 6 public-order offence. The judge said the custody record supported that account and found that Burke had been arrested lawfully. He also found that Gardaí could remove people disrupting court proceedings, with or without a direction from the court.
The judge reviewed CCTV footage and said it showed no excessive or unreasonable force and corroborated O’Dwyer’s evidence. He rejected Burke’s claims that the arresting officer’s name on the warrant was wrong and that Gardaí deliberately violated his constitutional rights. The court was also satisfied that custody regulations on informing an arrested person of the offence had been followed. It said that even if a copy of the charge sheet had not been given as required, that would not make the detention unlawful.
Burke also argued that the District Court had not determined his complaints about the arrest. The High Court said he could raise those issues at trial or by judicial review; it noted that the District Court appearances in question concerned remand, bail and trial progress.
The judge said the bail conditions were a €200 bond and an undertaking to stay away from the Four Courts. He concluded that Burke was lawfully detained and refused the application.