The High Court has declined Edward Hanrahan’s application to stop his return for trial on indictment on a surviving burglary charge, leaving the prosecution before the Circuit Court to proceed.
Mr Justice Max Barrett delivered the judgment on 26 May 2016. The court refused the reliefs sought at this stage; it did not determine whether Mr Hanrahan was guilty of burglary.
Mr Hanrahan had appeared before Galway District Court in December 2009 charged with three alleged burglaries. The judgment says the prosecuting Garda inspector appeared to tell the District Judge that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed summary trial, and the judge accepted jurisdiction. Mr Hanrahan did not attend a scheduled hearing in March 2010.
When he was arrested in Donegal in November 2014, two of the three charges were struck out and one remained. The prosecution then proceeded on the basis that the surviving charge was to be tried on indictment. Mr Hanrahan sought orders quashing his return for trial and the communicated direction or consent, prohibiting the Circuit Court prosecution, and declaring the change in trial mode unreasonable or unlawful.
The DPP’s statement of opposition said the earlier information about summary trial had been given in error. It said the DPP had always directed that the surviving charge proceed on indictment, and that the other charges should not be prosecuted for lack of evidence. The court accepted that account and found there had been no change in the DPP’s position.
The court rejected the argument that the Garda inspector’s mistaken statement bound the DPP. It held that the prosecutor could choose between summary and indictment procedure, subject to the accused’s right to a fair trial, and that the mistake did not create unfairness or an abuse of process in this case. The judgment also distinguished cases involving a reversal of a decision not to prosecute, noting that the DPP’s direction here had remained unchanged.
The court declined all the requested reliefs. The surviving charge remains for trial on indictment; the judgment did not decide its merits.