Case against Shell to Sea protester adjourned until December

Sergeant ‘medically unfit’ to attend defamation hearing


Case against Shell to Sea protester adjourned until December

Anton McNulty

A DEFAMATION action brought against a prominent Shell to Sea protester by a garda sergeant based in north Mayo has been adjourned until December because the sergeant is ‘medically unfit’ to attend court.
The action brought by Sgt James Gill, who is based in Bangor Erris Garda Station, against fisherman and Shell to Sea campaigner Pat O’Donnell was due to be heard next Tuesday, May 10, at Castlebar Circuit Civil Court. Sgt Gill is seeking damages for slander and personal injury arising from words allegedly spoken by Mr O’Donnell.
However, at today’s sitting of the Court, Mr Patrick Murphy, BL for Sgt Gill, made an application seeking an adjournment on the grounds that the plaintiff was ‘medically unfit to attend the hearing’. He said the action was likely to take three to four days. No representative for Mr O’Donnell of Porturlin, Ballina, was present in court.
On reading the medical report, Judge Petria McDonnell noted that Sgt Gill would not be available for six months and agreed to adjourn the hearing until December 6, 2011. She said that with the matter ‘hanging over the head’ of the defendant, she would not be minded to a second adjournment, ‘particularly with that type of action’. Judge McDonnell added that she wondered ‘if anyone’s reputation was worth three or four days in court’.
The case was first adjourned in March when Judge Raymond Groarke agreed to step down from the case after an application by Mr O’Donnell’s legal representatives. In a previous case in February 2010, Judge Groarke sentenced Mr O’Donnell to seven months imprisonment when he appeared before him in Castlebar Circuit Court. During the course of his sentencing, Judge Groarke called Mr O’Donnell a ‘bully’ and a ‘thug’ and these comments were reported in the local and national media.
In March, Mr Leo Mulrooney, BL for Mr O’Donnell, successfully that a reasonable person would feel the case would not be fairly decided. “The fundamental concept of common law is that justice is done but also is seen to be done,” said Mr Mulrooney.