The High Court has given jailed former solicitor Thomas Byrne additional time to comply with discovery obligations in his defamation action against the Sunday World, rather than dismissing his claim at this stage.
Byrne, who the judgment records was serving a prison sentence for financial fraud, sued Sunday Newspapers Limited over an August 2011 Sunday World article linking him with what the court described as "gangland-style" criminality of the "Love/Hate" variety. Byrne denies such links and claims the article damaged what remained of his reputation and could affect his safety and rehabilitation after prison.
The newspaper sought discovery in October 2013. In May 2014, the High Court ordered Byrne to produce extensive categories of documents. By the time of this application, only five documents had emerged.
Some documents relating to Byrne’s former legal practice were said to be outside his possession, power or control. Other material, including documents from separate High Court and criminal proceedings, had been innocently destroyed by a solicitor who previously acted for Byrne without charge.
The Sunday World asked the court to dismiss the defamation proceedings for failure to comply with the discovery order or, alternatively, to compel fuller discovery.
Mr Justice Barrett declined to strike out the claim for now. He stressed that discovery extends to documents within a party’s "procurement", which may be broader than documents under that party’s control.
The judge directed Byrne to liaise with the Law Society and Gardaí and obtain, by the end of February 2016, relevant documents those bodies were prepared to release. He was also required to swear a supplemental affidavit addressing documents within his possession, power or procurement.
The court nevertheless flagged a potentially serious issue for later consideration. Discoverable documents had been destroyed after the defamation proceedings began and around or after voluntary discovery was requested. The court said it could hear argument in March 2016 on whether that loss of material made a fair trial for the Sunday World impossible.