The High Court ordered the release of Bridget Devoy after finding that her remand in custody from Dún Laoghaire District Court amounted to an unlawful de facto sentence before her actual sentence had been decided.
Ms Devoy was before the District Court on 24 March 2009 in relation to offences including drunken driving, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and having no driving licence. She had previously been on bail while a pre-sentence probation report was prepared.
That report assessed her as presenting a moderate risk of reoffending and considered her suitable for probation supervision. It recommended a 12-month probation order with counselling conditions. However, the District Judge sought clarification about whether Ms Devoy had attended a Women Overcoming Violent Emotions meeting as she had said she would.
The judge remanded her in custody until 7 April for an updated probation report. There had been no prosecution application to revoke bail on conventional grounds such as risk of absconding, interfering with witnesses or committing further offences.
Mr Justice Michael Peart held that the District Judge did have jurisdiction in principle to revoke bail on her own initiative. However, fair procedures required the grounds for doing so to be identified and Ms Devoy given an opportunity to address them. That had not happened.
The High Court found that the further probation report appeared to have been sought so the District Judge could decide what penalty was appropriate. Because a non-custodial outcome remained possible, putting Ms Devoy in prison in the meantime effectively imposed a period of imprisonment before sentencing.
The judge said this was particularly problematic because no appeal mechanism was available against that interim detention in the way an appeal could have stayed an actual District Court sentence.
Having concluded that no lawful basis for revoking bail had been identified, the High Court ordered Ms Devoy’s release on 31 March 2009.