Two Grange brothers who are alleged to have broken their bail while committing further public order offences have been given further bail at Mullingar District Court.
Michael Myers (24 ) of 34 Grange Heights and Patrick Myers (26 ) of 48 Grange Crescent are both charged with threatening behaviour at Farran on September 12.
Garda Sarah Murphy gave evidence of how both men should have been observing a curfew when they were allegedly seen fighting in the Farran estate at 3.05am following a family christening. Patrick Myers, who also has an address in Farran, was close to his home, solicitor Patricia Cronin told the court.
Following a High Court bail order, he is obliged to observe a curfew between 9pm and 8am and his brother was on curfew from 8pm. Both men were charged with threatening behaviour on the night.
Charges of threatening behaviour at Ardilaun Green on June 20 had been adjourned a week earlier to November 4 but gardaí re-entered the charges because of the alleged bail breach.
Ms Patricia Cronin said the incident on the night had initially happened indoors and gardaí appeared not to have taken the alleged bail breach seriously enough to have mentioned it in the last two weeks when the brothers were also in court. However, Judge David Anderson noted that when the High Court granted Patrick Myers bail, the State, meaning the Gardaí, had not opposed it.
Four of the Myers brothers had been refused bail at a previous sitting of Mullingar District Court and an application was made to the High Court by Ms Cronin on their behalf.
She said that gardaí had fought the first bail application ‘tooth and nail’ but their application for remand in custody was refused and the first brother was granted bail.
In subsequent cases, she said the State then didn’t object.
Judge Anderson commented on the waste of tax-payers money being used ‘to feather the nests of the junior bar’ when barristers have to be engaged to appear in High Court bail applications. He reminded her that any District Court judge can hear a bail application if there is a change in circumstances. Inspector Jarlath Folan made no comment during the case.
“If there is no continuing bail application, there is no need to go to the High Court,” he said, but he granted the men bail to appear before the court again as originally planned, on November 4.
