This article is from page 16 of the 2011-10-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
AFTER SITTING on the bench at Ennis District Court for more than 10 years, Judge Joseph Mangan’s final day in court was filled with good wishes, with a bit of luck for the very last defendant who came before him.
The judge’s farewell speeches were timed for 2.30pm but ran a little late as the final cases were being heard. As the courtroom began to fill up with wellwishers – mainly members of the legal profession, the probation service, current and former colleagues and gardaí – after lunchtime, Judge Mangan quipped, “I see a lot of familiar faces in the court. I think I may have to disqualify myself from a lot of it.”
Moments later, he let the last defendant before him off the hook. It was a road traffic matter and the judge told the accused, “You are the equivalent of the one millionth purchaser of the Volkswagen Beetle. Go and sin no more.”
Earlier in the day, during one of the judge’s last cases to hear, a solicitor suggested a lenient penalty for his client, given the occasion.
During a hearing into a public order charge, solicitor Stephen Nicholas suggested that his client be given the chance to contribute to the court poor box “given the day that’s in it”. Judge Mangan replied, “I thought you were going to say given the day that’s in it, a contribution to myself.”
He agreed to the request and dismissed the charge under the Probation Act on condition that € 100 be paid to the poor box and this was done immediately.