The Supreme Court dismissed Trevor McCabe’s appeal against the refusal of bail, while ruling that the High Court had jurisdiction to hear a fresh application after his first trial ended without a verdict.
The reasons, delivered by Chief Justice Denham on 18 January 2012, concern an appeal that was heard and dismissed on 19 January 2010. McCabe was awaiting retrial on a murder charge. The Court refused to admit him to bail and said the retrial was fixed for 15 March 2010, within two months of the appeal hearing.
McCabe had been charged with the murder of Darren McGrath. A jury at the Central Criminal Court deliberated for three days before failing to reach either a unanimous or majority verdict. The trial judge discharged the jury on 1 July 2009.
A previous High Court bail application had been refused by Butler J. on 12 January 2009. A further application was refused by Carney J. on 13 July 2009. Carney J. said he could not override Butler J.’s finding that McCabe was a flight risk.
The Supreme Court held that this was an error: the High Court had jurisdiction to hear and decide a fresh bail application. It cited the passage of time, the failed trial, the delay to the retrial and the prosecution’s rejection of an earlier proposed trial date. The Court noted that a trial date of 11 January 2010 had been available, but counsel was prosecuting another case then. It criticised the lack of urgency in securing the earliest available trial date for a person held in custody and stressed the responsibility of the prosecution and counsel to assist court listings and facilitate trial within a reasonable time.
However, the Supreme Court said the evidence and facts bearing on flight risk were the same as in the earlier application, with no material change in that core issue. It therefore found no grounds to interfere with the refusal of bail. The judgment records that counsel for McCabe said he had been found in Dublin a week after the alleged event, away from his family address in County Tyrone, and had another person’s passport. Counsel argued this was the basis for treating him as a flight risk and also advanced points about the alleged crime evidence. These were submissions, not findings by the Supreme Court.
The appeal was dismissed and bail was refused. The Court emphasised its concern about the time accused people may spend in custody awaiting trial.