The Courts

• At the Central Criminal Court on Monday two Dublin sisters were given long prison sentences for what Justice Paul Carney described as "the most grotesque case" he had ever dealt with. Charlotte Mulhall (24) was given the mandatory life sentence following her recent conviction for the murder of Kenyan national Farah Swaleh Noor. Linda Mulhall (31), who was convicted of manslaughter, was given a 15-year sentence. The sisters dismembered the body of their victim and dumped the parts in the Royal Canal, although his head has never been found. Gardaí are trying to trace the mother of the two women, who had been in a relationship with the dead man. It is believed she fled to England after the discovery of the body parts. By Wednesday Linda Mulhall had lodged an appeal against the severity of her sentence.
• Paul Stokes (52), of Monkstown, Co. Dublin, was granted bail at the Bridewell District Court on Monday when he was charged with driving a car into the front door of the RTE television studios. Stokes, who also interrupted host Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show recently, was told by Judge Angela Ní Chonduin that he must not go within two miles of the studios. When asked for clarification, Judge Ní Chonduin said the two mile restriction applies if Stokes goes into the city centre or if speaks to his daughter who works for RTÉ.
• Thomas Kennedy (21), from Russell Heights in Cobh, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to the murder of his former girlfriend, Sheola Keaney (19), whose body was found in the Co. Cork town in July of this year. When the trial opened last Friday, Kennedy pleaded not guilty but at lunchtime on Tuesday he indicated that he wished to change his plea. A day later he was back in court for sentencing and was given the mandatory life sentence. Ms Keaney was an only child and both her parents read out heart-rending victim impact statements to a packed courtroom. At the end of the hearing, in a remarkable gesture of understanding, Carol Keaney made her way through the packed courtroom to embrace the parents of the man who had murdered her only child.
• Three Limerick men were remanded in custody after being charged with the murder of nightclub security man Brian Fitzpatrick, in Limerick in November 2002. Tight security was in place for the appearance at Limerick District Court of Gary Campion (23) from Moyross, and brothers Dessie (22) and John Dundon (26) of Ballinacurra Weston. Gardaí, armed with machine-guns, patrolled the area and all visitors to the court were screened by other gardaí. Anthony Kelly (49) of Kilrush, Co. Clare, who was already in custody charged with the same murder, also appeared in court. All four were served with the book of evidence. James Cahill from Birmingham, who is serving a life sentence for the murder, will appear as a witness at the trial. He claims he was hired to carry out the killing.
• Leading Shell-to-Sea activist Maura Harrington featured in all the papers on Thursday morning following a court appearance in Galway a day earlier. The school principal, from Geesala, Co. Mayo, was fined a total of €625 after being convicted of being drunk and a danger to herself and others, of refusing to obey the directions of a garda and of breaching the peace. The incident in question happened in Tí Neachtain in Galway in April.
• Joan Clarke from Loughrea, Co. Galway has taken legal action against the Galway County Registrar, the Courts Service and the Attorney General, claiming that she has been excluded from jury service because she is deaf. Ms Clarke, who says her exclusion breaches her rights under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights Act, believes she is entitled to a sign-language interpreter to allow her to sit on a jury.
• The trial of Pádraig Nally (62), who is charged with the manslaughter of John 'Frog' Ward on October 14, 2004, was adjourned on Friday when the Co. Mayo farmer was unable to attend the court due to illness; he was admitted to hospital the previous evening. The court will reconvene today. Mr Nally acknowledges that he shot the Co. Galway Traveller twice but claims he did so to protect his property. He was convicted at an earlier trial but this conviction was overturned in the Court of Criminal Appeal and a retrial ordered. This opened early in the week.
• Surinam national Antonio Simon (39) received a five-year jail sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday when he was found guilty of bringing cocaine valued at more than €80k into Ireland from Amsterdam. Simon, who had swallowed 110 pellets the size of cocktail sausages, was detained after he arrived at Dublin airport last December. His girlfriend, for whom he claimed he was carrying the drugs, was not charged due to lack of evidence. This was a case in which the mandatory ten-year sentence applied but Judge Michael White referred to provisions within the act which allowed a lesser sentence. He then backdated the start of the sentence to December 15, 2005, when Simon was arrested.
• John Doyle (33), of Balbriggan, north Co. Dublin, was given a ten-year sentence with the last two suspended when he appeared before Judge Patricia Ryan at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday. Doyle, who was in debt to his dealers, was found guilty of having in his possession for supply, cocaine worth €840k and €400k in cash.
• In the High Court on Friday Justice John Quirke reserved judgement at the close of the four-day hearing into a case taken against the Minister for Justice and the State; the case involved an alleged leak of information by gardaí in Ballybunion, Co. Kerry. Alan and Phyllis Gray and their son Francis allege that gardaí leaked to the media the fact the Alan and Phyllis' nephew, convicted rapist James O'Donoghue, had been staying with them in their Ballybunion home. The family, who had earlier moved to Kerry under the Rural Resettlement Programme, maintain that they were forced to return to Dublin as a result of local reaction to the news. Local gardaí have denied that any such leak took place.
• Brendan McFarlane (52), of Jamaica Street in Belfast, has lost his latest appeal against standing trial for the imprisonment of supermarket owner Don Tidey in 1983. McFarlane was originally charged nine years ago but was granted bail while he challenged his prosecution. A High Court decision prohibiting the trial on the grounds of missing evidence was overturned in the Supreme Court, and the latest High Court proceedings cited court process delay as the factor prejudicing his right to a fair trial. It is possible that McFarlane will appeal this latest decision to the Supreme Court.