The High Court has ordered Enoch Burke back to prison after finding that he again trespassed on the grounds of Wilson’s Hospital School in breach of an existing court order.
Mr Justice Cregan delivered his fourth judgment in the proceedings on 20 January 2026, following another application by the school for Burke’s attachment and committal.
Burke had been released from prison on 14 January so that he could prepare separate High Court proceedings concerning the school’s Disciplinary Appeal Panel. Cregan J said those proceedings raised substantive issues requiring preparation of affidavits, legal submissions and argument, and concluded that Burke would be at a significant disadvantage attempting that work from prison.
The judge stressed that Burke’s release did not alter the existing High Court order restraining him from trespassing on school property. He said Burke was explicitly warned that returning onto the grounds would result in his recommittal.
According to the judgment, Burke nevertheless indicated immediately after his release that he intended to return to the school and subsequently did so.
The court found on the evidence before it that Burke had again repeatedly trespassed on the school property. Cregan J held that he was therefore in further contempt of court and had no defence to the school’s application.
The judge rejected Burke’s claims that his release had been a reversal by the court or a trap, saying the purpose had been to give him an opportunity to prepare his disciplinary-panel case outside prison.
The ruling does not decide the merits of Burke’s separate challenge to the Disciplinary Appeal Panel. That case remained to be prepared and contested.
Cregan J again stated that Burke’s imprisonment arose from contempt of the no-trespass order rather than from his religious views. He said Burke could secure release by purging his contempt and giving an undertaking not to trespass on the school grounds.