Judge lets rip at noisy teens for disrupting case

Students scolded during murder trial

THEY were in court to gain invaluable work experience shadowing a well-respected lawyer at the country’s busiest courthouse.

But three unruly school students narrowly avoided finding themselves on the wrong side of the law when they incurred the wrath of a senior judge during a murder trial.

Stopping short of finding the trio in contempt of court, Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan told the two girls and one boy, all aged under 18, they were banned from the court building after they ignored pleas from counsel and gardaí to quieten down.

The incident took place at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, as prosecution counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley SC was giving his closing remarks in the trial of Thomas O’Connor, who had been accused of bludgeoning a friend to death with a rock.

O’Connor, 29, had claimed he was acting in ‘partial selfdefence’ when he attacked 22year-old John O’Brien in June 2010. However, he was subsequently found guilty of murder.

Mr Vaughan Buckley was explaining the legal implication of the accused’s defence to the jury when the three youths, who had been ‘acting the maggot’ in the public gallery, came under the withering gaze of Judge Heneghan on March 7.

A court insider said: ‘They were laughing and giggling and looking at their phones. One of them even slumped forward and pretended that she was so bored she couldn’t stop herself from dozing off, much to the amusement of her two pals.

‘It was adolescent stuff... A guard walked over to them to ask them to calm down, as did a member of the defence team, but to no avail. They kept on acting the maggot.’

Clearly incensed, Judge Heneghan ordered the youths to explain themselves.

The insider added: ‘As the jury rose for lunch, the judge pointed towards the public gallery and told the three of them that they weren’t going anywhere. She was fuming. She hauled them into the witness box and admonished them.

‘The judge told them they could have been found in contempt of court and that she’d be writing to their school principal. She also said they had embarrassed the barrister they had been shadowing, Paul Murray... and that they were now banned from the Central Criminal Court for the rest of the week.

‘Paul Murray wasn’t there at the time but the judge made it clear that she was going to speak to him about their behaviour. It’s fair to say they were not quite as cocky when they walked out of court. All three of them looked as white a sheet.’

It is understood the ban was later rescinded after the teenagers wrote a letter of apology to Judge Heneghan.

The Bar Council runs a workexperience scheme for students, but a spokeswoman distanced the legal body from the incident, saying: ‘The facilitation of shadowing/work experience by individual barristers is unconnected with our formal programme and outside our remit.’

Barrister Mr Murray declined to comment. O’Connor, of Burnaby Court, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, is facing a mandatory life term after the jury convicted him on March 8 of murdering Mr O’Brien at Farrankelly Road, Delgany, Co. Wicklow.