Case Reports

A man who was systematically abused by a former Marist Brother while at National School has been awarded €75,000 by a five-judge Supreme Court. The current Provincial of the Marist Order Brother Patrick McGowan appealed a High Court judgment which awarded the man €315,000 after assessing the Ord

of further offers from other interested parties. The Court heard that in the end, Mr Mellon did not actually submit a tender – Justice Humphreys said that it was likely that this was because he did not in fact have the funds immediately available. Thus, Justice Humphreys stated that “it was rea

Comparative advertising based on prices as between shops having different formats and sizes is unlawful in certain circumstances and is also liable to be misleading if the consumer is not informed clearly in the advertising itself of the difference in format and size of the shops in respect of which

The mother of a pupil attending an all-girls school in north Belfast has been unsuccessful in challenging the Department of Education decision to amalgamate her daughter’s school with an adjacent all-boys school. In the High Court in Belfast, the woman brought an application for judicial review ar

A 35-year-old man convicted of murdering a 21-year old man for “coming on to him” has been unsuccessful in appealing his conviction based on the defence of the defence of diminished responsibility created by s.6(2) of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006. In the Supreme Court, the man argued tha

A cohabitee who was refused a survivor’s pension after a local government body claimed her deceased partner did not nominate her has succeeded in an appeal and will be entitled to a pension under the scheme after Justices in the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the nomination requirement be

The Sunday World has been unsuccessful in its appeal to overturn the €85,000 award made to former English Premier League footballer, David Speedie, in defamation proceedings. In April 2011, the newspaper published two articles about the footballer’s alleged contact with known criminals, one of w

A man who served five years for possession of heroin with intent to supply, has been unsuccessful in his appeal to the Supreme Court in which he claimed that the solicitors representing him at his criminal trial were liable for worry and stress in the week running up to his trial in 1999. The man cl

A woman who suffered severe lacerations to her leg while attending a masquerade ball in Belle Isle Castle has lost her £100,000 claim against the company owning the popular Fermanagh venue. In the High Court in Belfast, Mr Justice Ben Stephens found that the company was not liable for Ms Brown’s

Convicted drug-dealer John Gilligan has been unsuccessful in challenging various orders made in relation to the disposal of his properties, which were adjudicated to have been acquired directly or indirectly with the proceeds of crime. In the Supreme Court, Mr Gilligan and various members of his fam

The former chief executive of a registered charity in receipt of public funds has lost her case against members of the Public Accounts Committee of Dáil Éireann in the High Court. Citing personal injury and loss of reputation, Ms Angela Kerins sought certain injunctive and declaratory reliefs and

A resident of Short Strand has succeeded in their appeal against the Chief Constable of Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) after Justices in the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the PSNI misconstrued their legal powers to stop parades passing through or adjacent to the Short Strand are

Thomas “Slab” Murphy has been unsuccessful in challenging his conviction for failing to make Income Tax returns, with the Court of Appeal dismissing all 53 of his grounds of appeal in its lengthy judgment. Delivering the judgment of the three-judge Court, Mr Justice Seán Ryan, President of the

A man who was adjudicated bankrupt in December 2015 has had his bankruptcy extended by five years due to his “complete failure to co-operate with the bankruptcy process”. Ms Justice Caroline Costello ruled that the man, who would have been automatically discharged from bankruptcy in December 201

A man who was given a lifelong ban from driving has had his disqualification reduced to one of forty years in the Court of Appeal. The man also challenged the severity of the two-year custodial sentence imposed upon him in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, arguing that the sentencing judge made an