State won't oppose quashing public order conviction against Jemima Burke, sister of teacher Enoch
THE STATE WILL not oppose the quashing of a public order conviction against Jemima Burke, a sister of teacher Enoch Burke, who today told the High Court her trial was like 'something you would hear in the Middle Ages'.
The State argued, however, that the matter should still be sent back to the original court for a new hearing.
In November, the High Court permitted Jemima Burke to seek a review of her case after she alleged that her Constitutional rights were breached when she was arrested, charged, and convicted of a public order offence within a matter of hours. Ms Burke also argued that to send her case back to the District Court would be a breach of her Constitutional rights.
Judge Vincent Deane at Ballina District Court, Co Mayo, convicted Ms Burke of a public order offence on June 20 last.
Ms Burke (30), a management consultant in professional services and a UCG graduate in journalism, said she attended an inquest in Swinford, Co Mayo, on June 20, concerning the death of a sepsis patient at Mayo University Hospital (MUH). She said the man spent 42 hours on a trolley, then went missing while in hospital care, and was later found dead in a river in Castlebar.
She said during the inquest lunch break, while outside on the public street, she used her phone to film the coroner and several MUH staff.
A Garda arrested her, confiscated her phone and brought her to Ballina Garda Station, where she was detained in a cell for more than two hours.
She was then charged with two public order offences relating to a breach of the peace.
She said that when she appeared before Judge Deane, she refused to sign a bail bond.
Judge Deane, she said, told her it would be unjust to adjourn the matter if she was not going to sign the bond, that there was little chance of her going to prison and that he had 'to protect your interests at some level, too'.
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Ms Burke said a Garda then made a number of allegations in the trial that immediately followed, including that she had obstructed the paths of individuals and shoved her phone into their faces, stating particular words. She said the phone footage would have clearly had probative value but it was in the possession of the gardai at that stage.
Judge Deane convicted her of one of the public order offences, under Section 6 of the Public Order Act, with the other taken into consideration, and fined her €350.
At the High Court today, Ms Burke argued that she had been the victim of a 'serious' miscarriage of justice in that there was 'excessive haste' in hearing the original case.
Ms Burke argued that she received no disclosure and had no legal representation at her trial. She said she had been detained in a cell for two hours and that 55 minutes after leaving the cell, she was on trial in the court.
Ms Burke claims she was 'railroaded' into a trial.
Kieran Kelly BL, for the DPP, said that it was still in the hands of the hearing judge, Ms Justice Sara Phelan, to exercise her power of discretion in remitting the matter to the District Court for a different judge to hear.
Mr Kelly said Ms Burke has complained about a lack of a fair trial. A return to the District Court would remedy matters for Ms Burke and give her the time required to prepare a case, he said.
Mr Kelly said the DPP was not opposing the quashing of the original conviction.
Ms Burke said that there was no custody record relating to her, no Garda statement made available to her, and she had no access to the 'probative' evidence on her phone. The prosecution, she said, had failed to guarantee a fair trial.
'It's like something you would hear in the Middle Ages,' said Ms Burke.
Ms Justice Phelan reserved judgment in the matter.
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