This article is from page 14 of the 2009-06-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A JUDGE left his bench after a pris- oner lashed out during a district court sitting in Ennis on Thursday. Several prison officers and gardai restrained the young man, who lashed out af- ter a young woman approached him from the body of the court, at Shan- non District Court, sitting in Ennis courthouse.
As he was being restrained, the young man in his 20s — with an ad- dress in Shannon — screamed at gardai, while the girl also lashed out and roared, “Get off my brother.” The young woman was immediately taken from the courtroom by gardai, while the man — who was in court, charged with motoring offences — was taken back to the cell by prison eno ne
Judge Joseph Mangan left the bench while the incident was taking place and returned to the courtroom after calm had been restored. A short time later, Inspector Tom Kennedy, pros- ecuting, asked that the young man’s
case be adjourned for a month. The defendant’s solicitor said his client was involved in the fracas and was “in a very highly elated and aggres- sive state’. Judge Mangan adjourned the case until July 16 next.
This was the second time that the same courtroom was the scene of chaos in recent weeks. Five weeks ago, three prison officers ended up in hospital with injuries after a prisoner lashed out and attacked them, also during a Shannon District Court sit- ting in Ennis.
One officer sustained a broken arm and was bitten, another received head and shoulder injuries and was detained overnight in hospital, while a third sustained a badly swollen wrist. The incident occurred after a 30-year-old prisoner – in custody at Limerick prison – became irate.
It took several prison officers and gardai to control the man, who was handcuffed, as he lashed out both physically and verbally outside the courtroom and later in the holding AI eCey ace b race