Mallow man takes Navy to court over cigarettes incident

A MEMBER of the Irish Navy, from Mallow, has launched a High Court action after being reprimanded for bringing an excessive amount of duty free cigarettes on board while he was serving.

The action is being brought by Eugene O’Toole, Mallow, following an incident that is said to have occurred last September while he was serving on board the LE James Joyce, which was anchored at the Port of Valetta in Malta.

The ship had been stationed in Malta after undergoing a campaign which saved over 2,500 migrant lives in the Mediterranean.

The incident occurred on 22 September when O’Toole brought a quantity of duty-free cigarettes on board the ship. It is said the amount of cigarettes was in excess of the allowance permitted under the captain’s standing orders. However, Mr O’Toole claims he had previously sought and believed he had obtained permission from a superior officer to bring the cigarettes on board.

Mr O’Toole claims that later the same day he was approached by his commanding officer, Lt Commander Niall Manning, who demanded to know why the cigarettes were brought on board.

Shortly afterwards, Mr O’Toole says that he was summoned to the cabin of the officer who he believed had given him permission to bring the cigarettes on board. Subsequently, the commanding officer ordered that all the duty free cigarettes be unloaded within 15 minutes or charges would be brought against Mr O’Toole. All of the cigarettes were removed from the ship.

Three charges were subsequently brought against Mr O’Toole but two of them were dismissed. The remaining charge was the claim that Mr O’Toole’s action was to the prejudice of good order and discipline, contrary to a section of the 1954 Defence Act.

Mr O’Toole, who has served in the Navy since 2002, disputes the claim that he broke the ship’s rules, and is arguing that the reprimand should be quashed as it was imposed on him by his commanding officer who, it is claimed, also played a role in investigating the matter.

He is also claiming that he was denied fair procedures and his constitutional rights were breached.

In the High Court, permission to bring the challenge was granted on an ex-parte (one-sided) basis by Justice Margaret Heneghan and is up for hearing next October.