Judge shot - Irish Times front page

BornToKill

At least it seems that no-one was hurt. This was mentioned on 'Morning Ireland' too.

Front page of the Irish Times today ...

Pellets from toy gun strike judge at family law hearing

CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor

A JUDGE was struck by pellets from a toy pellet gun in Longford District Court last Tuesday.
The incident occurred during a family law hearing before Judge John Neilan, which was held in camera, so no reporter was present and details of the case cannot be revealed.
It is understood that one of the issues in dispute between the parties, who are the parents of a child, was the purchase of a toy pellet gun for the child by the father, to which the mother objected.
The solicitor for one of the parties had the gun in court and it went off accidentally, striking the judge with pellets. He was not injured, and continued hearing the case. Judge Neilan himself bore no responsibility whatsoever for the incident.
The judge has been at the centre of controversy in the past, particularly for statements from the bench.
Last year the Courts Service took the unusual step of issuing a statement to contradict a member of the judiciary, when it said Judge Neilan had consistently refused to meet those involved in reorganising District Court districts and sittings.
It did so in response to remarks he had made about the Courts Service management and staff in which he described the service as “totally, absolutely, utterly incompetent from the CEO down”, and staffed by officials who were “far removed from operating” the system and were merely “moving figures around on a screen”. He was speaking about the issue of adjournments in courts in the midlands area.
In 2003, he issued an apology after widespread criticism of comments he made when two non-Irish national women appeared before him on shoplifting charges. He said: “The majority of shopping centres in this District Court area will be putting a ban on access to coloured people if this type of behaviour does not stop.”
In 2004, he announced he would immediately jail for a week all those guilty of drink-driving while he considered what sentence to impose.
At Mullingar District Court yesterday, when asked to comment on the shooting incident, Judge Neilan smiled and declined to comment.

mcgovern

The Metro says it was an "airgun" and that the judge laughed it off.

Rew

Not airsoft related...

Rew

To be clear this forum is about Airsoft the Sport, not the many ways to misuse (accidentally or otherwise) Airsoft guns.