logo
Former TD Colm Keaveney's drug-driving case adjourned for 11th time

Former TD Colm Keaveney's drug-driving case adjourned for 11th time

Irish Times2 days ago

The case against former Galway East TD
Colm Keaveney
who has been accused of drug driving and having no insurance has been adjourned for the 11th time. His defence solicitor informed the court there were medical issues that needed to be addressed.
Mr Keaveney, a former
Labour
and
Fianna Fáil
TD, was present in Tuam Court on Tuesday when his solicitor Gearóid Geraghty informed Judge James Faughnan there would now be a plea to all matters.
Mr Keaveney (54), of the Milltown Road, Tuam, Co Galway faces a charge of driving while under the influence of cocaine, as well as a no insurance charge, after he was stopped and arrested in Tuam on June 12th, 2023.
The defendant has also been charged with driving without insurance on July 25th, 2023 at Vicar Street, Tuam when stopped by a garda.
READ MORE
Three days later he was again detected by the same garda for allegedly driving without insurance at the N17 Plaza in Tuam.
Initially, the court was told the defendant would be contesting the drug-driving charge on the grounds there was an inordinate delay of three months between the Medical Bureau of Road Safety testing his blood sample for alcohol, and the test for drugs and that the sample remained unsealed in the meantime.
However, Mr Geraghty told Tuam Court a plea would be entered to all offences as he sought a final adjournment in the matter.
He said 'something has arisen that I want to deal with' as he applied for the adjournment.
'There will be a plea and it won't trouble the court. There are a number of medical issues that need to be addressed,' he said.
Judge Faughnan said there would be no further dates available to the defendant and agreed that the matter will be put back to the September 9th sitting of the court for finalisation.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Puska family trial: jury to continue deliberations on Friday
Puska family trial: jury to continue deliberations on Friday

Irish Times

time4 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Puska family trial: jury to continue deliberations on Friday

A Central Criminal Court jury will continue their deliberations on Friday in the trial of four family members charged with offences relating to obstructing the arrest of the man who murdered schoolteacher Ashling Murphy . Jozef Puska murdered 23-year-old Ms Murphy by stabbing and slashing her neck after attacking her while she exercised along the canal towpath outside Tullamore on the afternoon of January 12th, 2022. A jury later convicted him of that murder and he is serving a life sentence. His brothers, Lubomir Puska jnr (38) and Marek Puska (36) are charged with withholding information. Their wives, Viera Gaziova (40) and Jozefina Grundzova (32) are charged with impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Jozef Puska by burning his clothes. READ MORE All the accused were living with Jozef Puska, his wife Lucia, and 14 children at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, when the offences are alleged to have occurred in January 2022. All accused have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The jury originally began its deliberations on Wednesday, but an amendment was made to the indictment on Thursday. The amendment relates to the charge that the accused knew that Jozef Puska had committed the offence of murder or some other arrestable offence. The amended indictment now reads that they knew he had committed the murder of Ashling Murphy or some other arrestable offence. In her closing speech earlier this week, prosecutor Anne-Marie Lawlor SC told the jury that Marek and Lubomir jnr knew what Jozef had done shortly after 9.30pm on the night of the murder because Jozef told Marek. Despite this, Ms Lawlor said Marek and Lubomir jnr failed to disclose vital information when they spoke to gardaí. Their wives burned Jozef's clothes to impede his arrest or prosecution, she said. The jury had previously heard from defence counsel Karl Finnegan SC, who said in his closing speech that Marek Puska was entitled to remain silent to avoid incriminating himself. Mr Finnegan said there was a real risk that the information his client had could implicate him in an offence of assisting his brother after the murder. He said the legislation regarding withholding information was introduced following the Omagh bombing to force people with knowledge of that atrocity to come forward. However, Mr Finnegan said, the legislation does not remove a person's right to remain silent if they believe that they could incriminate themselves. At the time, Mr Finnegan said, there was a real risk that his client would be arrested for assisting Puska after the murder by arranging to get him out of Tullamore or because he knew of the plan to burn Jozef's clothes. The jury of seven men and five women will continue their deliberations on Friday.

Annie McCarrick: Gardaí made first arrest in 32-year investigation after receiving new information
Annie McCarrick: Gardaí made first arrest in 32-year investigation after receiving new information

Irish Times

time4 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Annie McCarrick: Gardaí made first arrest in 32-year investigation after receiving new information

The arrest of a man as part of the investigation into the 1993 disappearance and murder of Annie McCarrick follows a period of intense activity in the inquiry in recent years. The search of a house in Dublin is also connected to developments during this time. Gardaí had long nominated a chief suspect in the case and they arrested him on Thursday morning. The Irish Times understands the Garda investigation team decided to make the arrest and carry out the search based on new information it received. Detectives had already spoken to the chief suspect several times in relation to the case. Ms McCarrick disappeared from south Dublin in March, 1993. Her case was upgraded two years ago, from a missing persons inquiry to a murder investigation. The suspect, who was well known to Ms McCarrick, forged a career in business since 1993 and accumulated significant wealth. The arrest and the house search in Clondalkin are significant developments. However, they also represent the latest phase in an investigation that has, for years, been focused on the theory that a friend of the 26-year-old New Yorker killed her after a personal dispute. READ MORE Detectives also spoke to a man close to the suspect in recent months. That interview was carried out abroad. The man is believed to have previously told detectives he was with the chief suspect during the weekend Ms McCarrick disappeared. The suspect taken into custody on Thursday is the first person to be arrested in the 32-year inquiry . He was questioned on suspicion of murdering Ms McCarrick. He is in his 60s and does not usually live in Dublin. He was detained by members of the Dublin south central division's serious crime unit based at Irishtown Garda station. As he was being arrested, the property in Clondalkin was being sealed off for a search. The suspect was closely linked to the house at the time Ms McCarrick disappeared and she is believed to have stayed there at least once. The house was last sold about 15 years ago and gardaí stress that the current owners have no connection to the murder investigation. Situated in a small estate, the home has been extensively renovated and extended by its current owners, with most of that work completed over a decade ago. The arrested man knew Ms McCarrick from her time studying in Ireland. Following two years of living back in her hometown of New York, she returned to live in Ireland in January, 1993. Two months later, she disappeared from her rented apartment at St Catherine's Court, Sandymount, Dublin 4. The narrative around Ms McCarrick's disappearance – based on claimed sightings by eyewitnesses – has always involved her travelling by bus from south Dublin to Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, on the day she went missing: Friday, March 26th, 1993. There were also reported sightings of her in Enniskerry village and at Johnnie Fox's pub in Glencullen, in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, about 6km from Enniskerry. [ Annie McCarrick's best friend is 'overwhelmed with emotion, crying over my coffee' after developments in case Opens in new window ] However, those details have effectively been put to one side and the investigation is now based on what may have happened in Sandymount. Gardaí believe Ms McCarrick was the victim of foul play at the hands of a man she knew well and that her body was then disposed of to conceal the crime. Ms McCarrick had confided in her US-based friends that a man she had relations with in Dublin struck her in a drunken state. She told friends she believed he was harassing or stalking her. Detectives believe the killing and disposal of her remains had probably taken place before she was reported missing on March 28th, 1993. That was about 48 hours after the last confirmed sighting of her, by her flatmates in Sandymount. Gardaí suspect she was killed, or at least met her murderer, in the area around her flat. The reported sightings of Ms McCarrick in the Enniskerry and Glencullen areas now appear to have achieved nothing. They may have wasted vital time and led the initial investigation astray during the crucial period immediately after a murder, when killers are most likely to slip up.

Liquidators appointed to marketing company Frank&Bear amid alleged misappropriation of funds
Liquidators appointed to marketing company Frank&Bear amid alleged misappropriation of funds

Irish Times

time6 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Liquidators appointed to marketing company Frank&Bear amid alleged misappropriation of funds

Joint provisional liquidators have been appointed by the High Court to Dublin company Frank&Bear Limited, stated to be involved in a number of significant digital marketing campaigns in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the United States. Barrister Eoin Coffey told Mr Justice David Holland that the company, which employs 12 people, was unable to meet its debts and that two of its three directors were engaged in promoting a petition through the courts for the winding up of the firm. Mr Coffey, who appeared with Grace Armstrong of McCann Fitzgerald Solicitors , said the petition was being sought by directors Niamh Haughey and fellow director Michael Corcoran, a key member of the company's senior management team responsible for running a consultancy arm by the name of 'Frankly.' Counsel told the court that Ms Haughey, of Hollywood Grove, Newry, Co Down, had indicated in sworn written evidence opened to the court that director and financial controller David Connor of Ontario Terrace, Ranelagh , Dublin, had misappropriated approximately €1.75 million of company funds. READ MORE Ms Haughey said a forensic investigation had revealed that Connor had taken out company funds for renovations to his family home and also for the acquisition of a number of vehicles that had been applied to his personal use and for members of his family. She also stated that Connor owned a season ticket to a UK Premier League Club and had used company funds to finance family holidays. Mr Coffey told Judge Holland that Connor had also formed the opinion that the company should be wound up but was not co-operating with the appointment of joint provisional liquidators Dessie Morrow and Diarmaid Guthrie of Azets Ireland. Ms Haughey said Frank&Bear had been involved in a number of significant digital marketing campaigns throughout Ireland, the UK, Europe and the US and had provided consulting services to a number of well-known brands in the area of social media strategy and operations. She had met Mr Connor when she had commenced working for an unrelated digital marketing company in May 2016 when he was CEO and majority shareholder of that company which had also employed Mr Corcoran. In January 2020 she had been offered a role in a leading international agency and on Mr Connor having become aware of the offer he had suggested she turn it down, which she did, and go into business with him instead which she had done. Frank&Bear was a social media and digital marketing agency specialising in creating and managing online marketing campaigns to help businesses reach and engage their target audiences and increase revenue. The company operated fully remotely and did not own or lease any real property. To her knowledge the company had traded profitably for the period ending December 2022 but in April 2025 Mr Corcoran had been informed by a building contractor that they had carried out renovations to Mr Connor's personal property but had received payment for the works by Frank&Bear. This had led to the forensic investigation into the financial matters of the company and she stated there had been a complete breakdown in trust and confidence between Mr Connor and herself and Mr Corcoran. Mr Connor, who had refused to co-operate with the investigation, had been suspended on full pay. Both she and Mr Corcoran now believed the company should be wound up in the interest of employees and creditor. Judge Holland directed that Mr Morrow and Mr Guthrie be appointed joint provisional liquidators of Frand&Bear with power to take control of all property to which the company appeared to be entitled, including books and records and power to institute legal proceedings. The application was brought ex parte in the absence of any representation on behalf of the company and returned to July 7th.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store