The Supreme Court dismissed Stephen Murphy junior and Ann Murphy’s claims for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment, while finding that two charges against Stephen Murphy junior relating to 27 June 1996 should never have been recommended or brought. It awarded him his expenses for the appeal.
The case arose from a long-running dispute between neighbouring families in rural County Cork. The Murphys alleged that prosecutions over incidents involving cattle on the public road had been malicious. Ann Murphy also claimed she was falsely imprisoned because gardaí prevented her from using the road outside her home.
The Supreme Court heard an appeal from a High Court decision dismissing the action. The High Court had found no proof that the gardaí acted without reasonable and probable cause or maliciously. The Supreme Court reviewed the prosecution records and the circumstances of the appeal; it did not retry the case or set aside the findings of fact made at trial.
The Court said a handwritten statement referring to Stephen Murphy senior had been mistakenly transcribed as referring to his son, Stephen Murphy junior. It found there was no reasonable and probable cause for charges alleging that the son had disobeyed a Garda direction on 27 June, when he was at work and had not been given such a direction. The judgment described the recommendation and initiation of those charges as unthinking and slipshod. The son had been convicted on one of the charges in the District Court and had to appeal to the Circuit Court to have that conviction overturned.
However, the Court found no evidence that the mistakes were knowingly made or that Garda Michael McCarthy acted with malice. It said the malicious prosecution claim required proof of malice as well as lack of reasonable and probable cause. Other charges were supported by witness statements, and convictions remained against Ann Murphy for an incident on 27 June and Stephen Murphy junior for an incident on 29 June.
The Court rejected Ann Murphy’s false imprisonment claim. It said that being temporarily prevented from using the public road, where she could leave by another route, did not amount to the total restraint of liberty required for that tort. The judgment also found that gardaí had acted to defuse a potentially dangerous situation involving cattle and people.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on the claims, found allegations of bias against Garda McCarthy unfounded, and awarded Stephen Murphy junior his expenses for bringing the appeal.