Burke has ‘no interest in being released’ and ‘wants’ to stay in jail
Judge’s remarks as sacked teacher ignores freedom offer
SACKED teacher Enoch Burke has ‘no interest in being released’ and ‘wants’ to remain in jail, a High Court judge has said.
Mr Burke was ordered to return to Mountjoy Prison again following a stormy court hearing yesterday, in which four members of the Burke family, including Enoch, were removed from the courtroom by gardaí – with his brother Isaac being carried out twice.
Enoch Burke had refused to engage with a suggestion by Judge Mark Sanfey that he could return home for the Easter holidays, without having to purge his contempt.
He has been in Mountjoy since September, for refusing to abide by a court order that he remain away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co. Westmeath.
It is his second spell in the Dublin prison, having been sent there the previous autumn for the same reason, but released at Christmas. He has now spent over 300 days behind bars.
Judge Sanfey noted that he was setting a new precedent for the length of time anyone in Ireland has spent in prison for civil contempt of court.
Barrister Alex White, for the school, said there appeared to be no alternative to prison to ensure Mr Burke stayed off the premises.
He said €700-a-day fines had not been paid by Mr Burke, legal cost orders had proved not to be a deterrent, and the sequestration of his assets would not work as it was only a temporary measure, more usually applied to companies. ‘The school has no wish to see Mr Burke confined to prison, a young man, but in circumstances where he is refusing to obey an order of the court the school has been left with no other option but to return to court,’ he said. He also said the school did not want to have to employ security guards on a full-time basis, as it would turn the school into a ‘prisonlike environment’. Mr White said an exception had been made last week, when the school employed security guards following a dispute with a contractor. He said there had been ‘a particular issue – I don’t want to use the word threat – where a security firm was engaged to protect the school’. That issue had nothing to do with Mr Burke, he said.
He added that Mr Burke, who is still on full pay, would have the opportunity to air his grievances over the reasons for his January 2023 sacking at his upcoming disciplinary panel appeal.
However, Mr Burke took exception to the use of security guards at the school. He said it meant a solicitor for the school was ‘lying’ on affidavit, when she had written that the school did not want to use security guards in his case.
Judge Sanfey told Mr Burke that as the school was on Easter holidays for two weeks, he would release him without Mr Burke having to purge his contempt.
‘Your release now would give you the opportunity to go home and reflect with your family, or whoever else you rely on to give you advice,’ he said.
Mr Burke did not respond to the proposal, instead continuing his submissions concerning the school’s security firm.
When Judge Sanfey tried to return to his proposal, Enoch’s mother Martina Burke began to shout about the school ‘lying under oath’, and was escorted from the court on the judge’s orders, accompanied by her husband Seán Burke. Enoch’s sister Ammi Burke was subsequently ordered to leave, and walked out surrounded by gardaí. When Mr Burke repeatedly accused the court of ignoring a lie, Judge Sanfey ordered his removal. He appeared to fall to the ground as gardaí escorted him out, but stood again and walked out, shouting: ‘You are abusing me.’
His brother Isaac then also fell, and was carried out by the shoulders and ankles. Isaac returned minutes later, saying that his shirt had been ripped. He asked if this was a ‘police state’.
Judge Sanfey asked him to sit down, but he continued to remonstrate. He was ordered to be removed, and again appeared to fall and was rapidly carried out.
The judge remarked: ‘I suppose it was too much to hope that Mr Burke would have accepted my approach in terms of allowing him to be released today.
He added: ‘Even apart from the accusations of dishonesty and collusion, the constant refusal to answer questions, the constant interrupting of proceedings by Mr Burke, the constant talking over the judge and counsel for the school, demonstrate that Mr Burke has no interest in being released.’ He said Mr Burke ‘is behaving in a way that one can only conclude indicates he wants to be in jail’. He listed Mr Burke’s imprisonment for mention before the court again on June 14.
‘School left with no other option’