Supreme Court of Ireland Decisions

1. The Prosecutor was wrongly sentenced in the District Court to a term of imprisonment of twelve months when the maximum sentence for the offence which he had committed was three months. He appealed to the Circuit Court. He apparently did not turn up for his appeal and the District Court Order was affirmed. Ultimately, after a delay, the Prosecutor was arrested and committed to Mountjoy Prison.

2. He was an impecunious person and there was very considerable danger of a serious miscarriage of justice. He could have served a sentence wrongly imposed upon him but for the interference of the Solicitor and Counsel who subsequently handled his case. He had no legal aid. They brought the case and they made submissions before the learned trial Judge. One of the issues was whether the learned trial Judge should remit the case to the District Court. The learned trial Judge decided not to remit the case to the District Court and then he said in view of the fact that the Applicant had pleaded guilty, he felt that he had granted him sufficient equity. As my learned colleague Mr. Justice Barron has pointed out, it is hard to follow the precise reasoning there because the fact that a person has succeeded on a particular issue which arises as a substantial issue in a case, would not normally be a reason for not allowing him the costs. But even more important I think in this case is the fact that this was a case where there was a potential miscarriage of justice which was averted by the action of Mr. Condon BL and his instructing Solicitor, and it had not been spotted by the representative appearing for the Director of Public Prosecutions either in the District Court or in the Circuit Court, and under these circumstances the only way of putting the matter right was by a State side application. That application was brought, and was successful, and it appears to this Court that under the circumstances the Prosecutor is entitled to his costs in the High Court