Courts impacted by crisis

A DRASTICALLY slimmed down District Court service will be provided to County Wexford during the coronavirus crisis.

The court convened as usual on Monday, March 16 but Judge Brian O’Shea quickly made it clear that it was not a case of business of usual.

All sittings scheduled up to mid-May will be affected by the HSE’s recommendations restricting public gatherings.

The plan is to adjourn all non-urgent matters during that period.

The bulk of cases on Monday’s list were formally adjourned until May 18 without any evidence being heard.

The judge indicated that, while restrictions are in force, the courthouse in Gorey will not be used for sittings, with all business transferred to Wexford instead.

He explained that the court complex in Wexford is better equipped to handle TV links with prisons where defendants are being held.

‘All crime is here from now on,’ he said at the courthouse in Belvedere Road, in response to a query from solicitor Gerry Flynn.

In view of the threat posed by the virus, solicitor Ed King raised the case of an 18-year-old defendant remanded in custody four days earlier.

Mr King confirmed that the family of his teenaged client, accused of violent disorder, had raised €600 to offer as cash bail.

The young accused was welcome to stay at home with his parents, said the solicitor.

In the circumstances created by covid-19, the judge was prepared to alter his original decision and grant bail, adjourning to June 4.

The court sitting which began on Monday March 16 at 10.41 a.m. concluded at 11.58 a.m.