The High Court ordered Richard McCann’s immediate release from custody after finding that hearsay evidence played a central role in the District Court’s decision to revoke his bail. His earlier bail conditions remain in force.
Mr Justice Hogan delivered the ruling on 12 July 2011 under Article 40.4.2 of the Constitution, which requires an inquiry into a complaint of unlawful detention. The application concerned Mr McCann’s detention following a District Court decision on 1 July to revoke his bail. The High Court directed his release from that custody; it did not remove the bail conditions imposed on 5 June.
Mr McCann was charged with two offences said to have occurred on 4 June: abusive language under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and possession of a blade under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990. His bail required him to stay away from the McDonagh family, sign on at Cavan Garda Station every Monday and Thursday, and observe an overnight curfew.
At the revocation hearing, Garda Joanne Gethins gave evidence that Mr McCann had failed to sign on three times. She also relayed an allegation by Edward McDonagh that Mr McCann had tried to ram his car with another vehicle. A statement from Michael Duke was said to support that account. The defence challenged the car-ramming evidence as hearsay and said Mr McCann denied involvement.
The District Court revoked bail, citing the missed sign-ons, the seriousness of the charges and its view that Mr McCann was a dangerous criminal involved in a feud between criminal gangs. The High Court found the District Court had no recognised legal basis to admit the hearsay in the circumstances. It said practical concerns about producing witnesses did not establish such a basis, and the evidence prevented effective cross-examination. The judge concluded that this was a fundamental error that vitiated the legality of the detention.
The High Court acknowledged that the missed sign-ons could themselves have supported revoking bail. But it considered that the car-ramming allegation and evidence about ongoing criminality had weighed more heavily in the District Court’s decision. Because those matters were fatally undermined by the hearsay ruling, the detention could not stand.
The order released Mr McCann immediately and unconditionally from the custody arising from the bail revocation. His previous bail conditions revived. The judgment also records that a separate one-week prison sentence for contempt, imposed after an outburst at the revocation hearing, had ended by 8 July.