The High Court has dismissed Andrew Long's attempt to overturn a Circuit Criminal Court decision refusing to allow him to withdraw guilty pleas to two assault offences.
Long initially pleaded not guilty and went to trial before a judge and jury in March 2018. After the trial judge refused an application for a directed acquittal, Long changed his plea on 9 March and pleaded guilty to assault and assault causing harm.
He later sought to withdraw those pleas. The Circuit Court heard that application in November 2018 and refused it on 14 January 2019. The trial judge found that Long had been represented by an experienced solicitor, senior counsel and junior counsel, had made an informed decision and had not been improperly pressured into pleading guilty.
A custodial sentence was imposed in April 2019. Long subsequently appealed his conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal and also began separate judicial review proceedings in the High Court. By the time the judicial review was heard, he had completed his prison sentence.
The central question for Mr Justice Garrett Simons was not whether the Circuit Court ruling was correct on its merits, but whether judicial review was the proper route for challenging it.
The judge held that it was not. Judicial review examines legality, jurisdiction and fair procedures; it is not a rehearing of factual or legal issues. By contrast, the Court of Appeal could directly address Long's contention that the Circuit Court wrongly found delay in his attempt to change plea and any alleged error concerning the applicable standard of proof.
The High Court found that neither complaint identified an error outside the Circuit Court's jurisdiction or a breach of Long's constitutional right to a trial in due course of law.
The judicial review application was therefore dismissed. Long's separate appeal against conviction and sentence remained pending before the Court of Appeal.