This article is from page 80 of the 2008-07-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 80 JPG
THE trial of an 18-year-old student, accused of murdering an Ennis schoolboy a year ago is expected to take place in Ennis in February.
John McGovern, of Ballyduff, Barefield, Ennis, is charged with murdering Michael Doherty (14), on June 23 last year.
Mr Doherty, a settled Traveller,
died as a result of an altercation on O’Connell Street, having sustained Stab wounds to the chest.
The case was listed for mention at the Central Criminal Court in Dub- lin yesterday, with a view to fixing a CHK KOU CembUEADE
Mr McGovern’s barrister Mark Nicholas, BL, said the Senior Coun- sel in the case, Patrick Gageby, was seeking that the case be heard on the
week beginning February 2 or Feb- UE aaezer
Mr Nicholas said the case is likely to last between five and seven days.
The court registrar said he wasn’t in a position to fix a date at this stage.
Mr Justice Liam McKechnie told Mr Nicholas, “We will take a note of that. We will communicate with you.”
In May, Mr Justice Paul Carney
ruled that the trial will go ahead in Ennis, despite objections from gardai, who asked that it take place in Dublin.
On that date, Mr Gageby applied for the trial to be heard in Ennis.
He noted that the objection to the trial going ahead in Ennis was “on the grounds of safety”.
“If there is any real apprehension that attendance of numbers of the
Travelling community would have any adverse effect, the gardai in En- nis would be well qualified to deal with it,” he pointed out.
However, Caroline Biggs, BL, for the prosecution, said, “There are fears for security, based on knowl- edge and intelligence. If it is in Dub- lin, a large number of individuals would not come to Dublin. The con- cerns are genuine.”