Stephanie Tuite avoids criminal penalty for contempt of court

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Stephanie Tuite was found in contempt of court after failing to attend as a witness at the trial of Daniel McDonnell. The proceedings were reported on 30 January 2014.

Mr Justice Paul Carney described her actions as a clear and blatant contempt of court. He imposed no criminal penalty because the trial had not been derailed and because he recognised that discovering she had been the girlfriend of an assassin was clearly terrifying for her.

Tuite had said she was too petrified to testify against McDonnell. The report said she was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning after going to ground during the trial.