Solicitor attacked in Limerick Courthouse!

Henry Ford III · 02-09-2009 1:52pm #1

There has been a stand-off between Gardai and a notorious criminal gang at Limerick District Court this afternoon after a solicitor apparently came under attack.

It is alleged a senior member of the McCarthy/Dundon gang grabbed the solicitor by the throat and threw him to the ground just outside the doors of the courtroom.

Armed detectives and the Regional Support Unit were called to the scene.

When the court resumed armed Gardai remained posted at the entrance and the solicitor informed the judge he had just been assaulted and was too upset to continue.

The solicitor concerned has been confirmed as John Devane.

Berty · 02-09-2009 2:06pm

Live by the sword........................

hblock21 · 02-09-2009 2:09pm

Henry Ford III wrote: »

John Devane.

!

Liam79 · 02-09-2009 2:20pm

this is their chance to give something back to the city they have scourged........

TimeonmyHands · 02-09-2009 2:23pm

Read about this on the Irish Independent website....wonder will it make the RTE 6 One News!!!!

Berty · 02-09-2009 2:25pm

TimeonmyHands wrote: »

Read about this on the Irish Independent website....wonder will it make the RTE 6 One News!!!!

I went straight for breakingnews.ie but nothing on there yet however a reporter is a boardsie so you never know he might see this.

Itsdacraic · 02-09-2009 3:14pm

Hmmmmmm, Devane gets attacked by one of his clients.
Devane is then too "upset" to face the court
Hearing is then cancelled.

I wonder who it suited to have the case postponed?

I will believe this when I see him file charges against Mr Dundon.

Disappointed I missed this. I was supposed to be doing a bit of work in the vicinity of the courthouse today but it was postponed.

old boy · 02-09-2009 7:49pm

karma or an act, i hope he now know how innocent people fell when his clients have a word with him. the legal profession may now realise why people do not give evidence.

grenache · 03-09-2009 12:56am

Henry Ford III wrote: »

The solicitor concerned has been confirmed as John Devane.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke.

mike kelly · 03-09-2009 1:02pm

so who was Devane supposed to represent in court? and who is the fella who got convicted of road trafic offences? and the name of the teenager shot in Weston earlier on?

let's see if we can join the dots...

MarkR · 03-09-2009 8:04pm

Berty wrote: »

I went straight for breakingnews.ie but nothing on there yet however a reporter is a boardsie so you never know he might see this.

Cool. Any one we would have heard of?

Berty · 03-09-2009 8:25pm

MarkR wrote: »

Cool. Any one we would have heard of?

He's a self employed reporter/photographer who sells the stories he gets to first / photographs he gets first to anybody who will pay for them, usually breakingnews.ie

It would be rude to name him though.

Itsdacraic · 04-09-2009 9:43am

Ah some fantastic thinly veiled pressure being putting on Devane over the incident the other day:

He is appealing to Mr Devane to do the same thing, even though his family paid the ultimate price when his 34-year-old son Roy was murdered
at Roxboro Shopping Centre on April 9.

"If he has a problem with them, it's there to stay. So what do you do? You go for the protection of the State. "An opportunity has presented
itself to put to bed allegations against him," Mr Collins said.

"At the end of day he lay with these people, he represented these people. I can't understand why he can't come forward."

Mayor Kevin Kiely said he was "horrified" to hear what had happened
to the solicitor and echoed Mr Collins' appeal to Mr Devane to do the right thing".

"As Mayor of Limerick I want to say that there is nobody above the law in this town and nobody is untouchable."

He said that if Mr Devane does not make a complaint to gardai, "he will lose all credibility".

Mayor Kiely said that great credit was due to Mr Devane, who went back to school to do his Leaving Cert and trained to be a solicitor. "He and his colleagues are entitled to do their jobs unhindered by criminal gangs."

Raiser · 04-09-2009 10:04am

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Ah some fantastic thinly veiled pressure being putting on Devane over the incident the other day:

The State is not in a position to sufficiently protect any individual in Limerick City from these people.

- Though I'm sure they'd all say a couple of choice words at his funeral.

mike kelly · 04-09-2009 11:20am

Can John Devnae be barred from practicing law if he refuses to make a complaint?

Raiser · 04-09-2009 11:35am

mike kelly wrote: »

Can John Devnae be barred from practicing law if he refuses to make a complaint?

If an individual suffers an assault upon their person it is up to them to press charges. If they should they choose not to, then usually there is no case for the attacker to answer and the matter fades away quietly.

In the event that a legal professional should be assaulted in broad daylight by a person known to him in not alone a public place, but also in fact within the walls of a Courtroom where the Laws of our Land are supposedly upheld by his profession, then it raises a lot of practical and ethical questions.

I think that people may be a little bit uncomfortable about the cold and callous comments on this thread so far - but I suppose the fact is that if John Devane was merrily playing Matlock with these Cnuts last week and probably will again next week then perhaps he needs to take stock of his role in the whole Limerick scene.....

Turner · 04-09-2009 11:56am

I presume the Gardai who witnessed it could prosecute this fella for a breach of the peace.

It is an indictable offence after all and i presume this fella has serious convictions already.

Then again, jail is no deterrant to these people.

Itsdacraic · 04-09-2009 12:01pm

I am very sorry if my post which was deleted was out of line.

Raiser made me do it.

mike kelly · 04-09-2009 1:45pm

The mention of John Devane in this article is very interesting. Just how would he have "looked after it"?

mike kelly · 04-09-2009 1:47pm

Chief--- wrote: »

I presume the Gardai who witnessed it could prosecute this fella for a breach of the peace.

You mean gardai act on their own initiative? LOL :pac:

Raiser · 04-09-2009 1:51pm

Itsdacraic wrote: »

I am very sorry if my post which was deleted was out of line.

Raiser made me do it.

I also made Itsdacraic McCarthy-Dundon throttle Johhny Devane in the Courthouse on Wednesday.......

What can I say? - it was a slow day......

mike kelly wrote: »

You mean gardai act on their own initiative? LOL :pac:

The day a Limerick Garda shows some initiative it will be a serious breach of status quo......

mike kelly · 08-09-2009 7:38am

Interesting update to this story in the Limerick Leader

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Limerick-solicitor-breaks-silence-over.5624645.jp

If this really is the truth, I guess the Dundons will be looking for a new solicitor. Shouldn't be too hard with all those unemployed solicitors out there.

mike kelly · 08-09-2009 12:14pm

another interesting article

dumbblonde122 · 08-09-2009 12:16pm

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Hmmmmmm, Devane gets attacked by one of his clients.
Devane is then too "upset" to face the court
Hearing is then cancelled.

I wonder who it suited to have the case postponed?

I will believe this when I see him file charges against Mr Dundon.

+1

Itsdacraic · 08-09-2009 1:46pm

mike kelly wrote: »

Interesting update to this story in the Limerick Leader

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Limerick-solicitor-breaks-silence-over.5624645.jp

If this really is the truth, I guess the Dundons will be looking for a new solicitor. Shouldn't be too hard with all those unemployed solicitors out there.

That is a scandalous statement from Devane. He was basically sent out the Dundons message to the entire county for them, "You make a complaint against us, we get you".

Obviously the Collins murder did this as well and now you have what seems to be their solicitor getting the message out there again.

old boy · 08-09-2009 9:28pm

will we now have to put up with the procasternations of mouse o dea and minister for handbags aherne on the national airwaves saying the public should stand up in court and give evidence in similar cases. i bet the silence will be 24 caret now that it is not joe or josophine citizen who is involved.

Turner · 08-09-2009 9:39pm

mike kelly wrote: »

You mean gardai act on their own initiative? LOL :pac:

Do gardai not do this every day??

Is that not why the district circuit and criminals courts, are overwhelmed with work and why prisons are overcrowded and at breaking point??

The Gardai do alot more than what you see the traffic corps doing on your way to work.

mike kelly · 09-09-2009 10:02am

Chief--- wrote: »

Do gardai not do this every day??

Is that not why the district circuit and criminals courts, are overwhelmed with work and why prisons are overcrowded and at breaking point??

The Gardai do alot more than what you see the traffic corps doing on your way to work.

no they don't. gardai act only on complaints. they do not proactively investigate. in cases of intimidation they do alsolutely nothing and make no effort to collect forensic evidence.

The courts are overwhelmed due to archaic work practices, any modern business would get through the court services workload in a third of the time.

Raiser · 09-09-2009 11:13am

mike kelly wrote: »

no they don't. gardai act only on complaints. they do not proactively investigate. in cases of intimidation they do alsolutely nothing and make no effort to collect forensic evidence.

The courts are overwhelmed due to archaic work practices, any modern business would get through the court services workload in a third of the time.

Too true unfortunately.

Millie · 09-09-2009 2:25pm

This city is a f*cking joke where the good living, tax paying citizens are living in fear of these b*stards.
I have had to move out of my house in the past few days due to a break in to my house, my car being stolen and being being bombarded by anti social behaviour by the scum that live across the road.

I see "do gooders" going in and out of the house of these vermin sympathising with their hard lives.....
I've not had the support of one group over the past number of days when my life has basically been turned upside.

Every department I have approached for help and cried my heart out about my situation have passed me from post to pillar.
A disgrace....

mike kelly · 10-09-2009 8:15am

very sorry to hear that, I hope you can get a new place without too much trouble

Delphi91 · 10-09-2009 10:01am

mike kelly wrote: »

no they don't. gardai act only on complaints. they do not proactively investigate. in cases of intimidation they do alsolutely nothing and make no effort to collect forensic evidence...

Just curious, is this your opinion or is it fact? If it's fact, can you provide evidence? And please don't tell me that it's fact based on "heresay and rumours".

mike kelly · 10-09-2009 11:34am

Evidence? Well the best example is how people who gave statements to gardai in relation to the murder of Eric Leamy in Limerick a few years ago were treated.

the main witness in the case was assaulted in Limerick train station the morning he was due to travel to Dublin to give eveidence at the trial. many people witnessed this but there was no investigation.

source · 10-09-2009 12:05pm

mike kelly wrote: »

Evidence? Well the best example is how people who gave statements to gardai in relation to the murder of Eric Leamy in Limerick a few years ago were treated.

the main witness in the case was assaulted in Limerick train station the morning he was due to travel to Dublin to give eveidence at the trial. many people witnessed this but there was no investigation.

Mike, Gardai can and do investigate proactively, if something is observed then action can be taken, however in an incident where there are no Garda witnesses, how can Gardai be expected to investigate something not seen at first hand without a complaint from an injured party? It's physically impossible. Gardai cannot be everywhere and cannot see everything.

So in these scenarios Gardai look for a statement from the injured party as they are the one who gets to decide whether or not they want the incident investigated, and they are the only one's who know fully and accurately what happened in the incident, Witnesses who are not the injured party can be very unreliable, 90% of the time(despite best intentions and a want to help) witnesses statements can differ greatly, but do corroborate evidence, because of this a case cannot be taken on witness statements alone.

mike kelly · 10-09-2009 12:25pm

foinse wrote: »

Mike, Gardai can and do investigate proactively,

example of one proactive garda investigation?

source · 10-09-2009 1:51pm

Here you go, an operation set up to target drug dealing, which operates on Gardai going out and proactively gathering intelligence, observing what is going on in the area, and then acting when they have built a case.

Gardai, often observe crimes in action and act based on their observation. Weekend nights, are a prime example of this, people getting arrested for fights and criminal damage, (cement being poured over Richard Harris statue, observed on cctv and arrested).

So there's 2 examples, Now, how about we get back on topic, sure he should have grown a pair and made a complaint, but he didn't, I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be a ploy to stop others from making complaints, or giving evidence.

baza1976 · 11-09-2009 9:52am

Chief--- wrote: »

I presume the Gardai who witnessed it could prosecute this fella for a breach of the peace.

foinse wrote: »

Mike, Gardai can and do investigate proactively, if something is observed then action can be taken, however in an incident where there are no Garda witnesses, how can Gardai be expected to investigate something not seen at first hand without a complaint from an injured party? It's physically impossible. Gardai cannot be everywhere and cannot see everything.

Hi Fonsie,

Good to see a mamber on the force here helping out with questions and concerns.

Can you comment on the "bold" writing above please???

You mention that if a member of the force observes something they can take action.
It has been widely reported in the media that it was witnessed by the garda, so why do we need a statement from Mr devane???

source · 11-09-2009 10:59am

It's all about burden of proof, the most the Gardai at the scene would be able to arrest the offender for is a breach of the peace, without a complaint from the injured party a charge of assault wouldn't be held up in court, as the judge would want to hear from the injured party, which in this instance the injured party does not wish to do. As to whether or not the offender was/wasn't arrested as a result of the incident, I could not comment as i was not there when it occurred.

baza1976 · 11-09-2009 7:02pm

foinse wrote: »

It's all about burden of proof, the most the Gardai at the scene would be able to arrest the offender for is a breach of the peace, without a complaint from the injured party a charge of assault wouldn't be held up in court, as the judge would want to hear from the injured party, which in this instance the injured party does not wish to do. As to whether or not the offender was/wasn't arrested as a result of the incident, I could not comment as i was not there when it occurred.

thanks

old boy · 11-09-2009 9:58pm

as all the wigs in the bar library are objecting to his stance, can they just bar him or shut up.

Solicitor attacked in Limerick Courthouse!

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