Judge unhappy with waste of Prison Service resources

A DISTRICT court judge has questioned the unnecessary presentation of a prisoner to Castlebar court on Wednesday last.
Supt Joe McKenna had made an application to Castlebar District Court for the disposal of police property, namely a car belonging to Simon McElhatton, with an address of 2 Riverside Estate, Foxford.
The court was told that the vehicle was involved in a single vehicle collision at 7am on June 14, 2014, at Ballyvary, Castlebar.
Supt McKenna told the court that McElhatton had previously signed a disclaimer that he had ‘no further interest in the property’.
McElhatton then confirmed this information, to the surprise of Judge Mary Devins, who questioned why the man was in court when there was no need for him to be there.
Prison staff who accompanied Mr McElhatton told the judge they had received orders to present the prisoner at the court from the ‘general office’, but added that they were not told any details of the case.
Judge Devins commented that Mr McElhatton had received a ‘free day out’ at the cost of the state, before granting the application sought.