A marathon session at Mullingar District Court came to an end at 7.15pm last week. Those who had waited to the bitter end staggered from the courthouse bewildered and exhausted.
Defendants whose cases hadn’t been reached by that late hour left the building angry and frustrated at having lost a day’s work or play.
For them, there was little consolation in hearing their cases would be prioritised when they have their next day in court. In recessionary times there’s nothing to look forward to in having to ask an employer for another day off or pay for a babysitter – that’s if there’s one out there willing to work a ten hour day.
Lunch hour stretched into two and then three hours, as juvenile and family law cases were heard in camera.
Excluding applications and last-minute charges, there were 136 turns on the list, with a number of defendants appearing more than once, and a considerable number of those turns representing more than one charge or summons.
At 6.15pm, Judge John Neilan said he was not going any further, that he had been trying to work as hard and as fast as he could and despite the fact that there was at least two hours work left, stated “I can’t and don’t intend to work any faster.”
The catalyst for the decision was the list of 19 turns involving members of the Nevin family, many of whom had the same names and most of whom were involved in two separate incidents which were being remanded to two separate dates. This led to a degree of frustration and confusion among solicitors, court staff, gardaí, and indeed the judge, as dates of birth and addresses were confirmed.
There were four David Nevins and a number of Hugh and John Nevins all with different addresses. At one point the judge asked respectfully that if any of them had a nickname they might share it with their solicitor, not for the purpose of the name being heard in court but so the solicitors could tell their clients apart when their names were called.
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