Finding out what a friend was convicted for?

Esoteric_

Hey, this is kind of a tricky situation but basically one of my best friends was convicted of some crime in January and jailed for 3 years (first conviction ever).

His brother hid this from all of us up til this week, telling us that our friend had basically left the country to try find work. Now, we know what prison our friend is in and how long his sentence is and we also know that he had us on his visiting list for the last 5 months but removed us for not visiting, so obviously his brother is deliberately cutting his contact to the outside world.

I've sent in a request for a visiting order, but is there any way I can find out what he was convicted of, as it'll be a month at least til I see him and I wanna be prepared for the worst and frankly, I want to know because there are some crimes that I couldn't stay friends with a person after they've committed.

Is there any way of finding out? I've trawled through the papers and such but can't find anything dating back to January.

Jimdagym

Why don't you write a letter to your friend in prison?

Zambia

How do you know it was a first conviction?

johnnyskeleton

If he got 3 years on a first conviction, this site will probably answer your question:

http://lmgtfy.com/

mikemac

Surely your local paper has a court report.

Most papers are online so have a read

Hal Emmerich

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

If he got 3 years on a first conviction, this site will probably answer your question:

http://lmgtfy.com/

That's really helpful.

MagicSean

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

That's really helpful.

I thought so. Three years on a first conviction would most likely be in the news.

Esoteric_

Seanbeag, obvously I've googled it. I dunno if you were trying to be smart or not but I've done nothing but google it.

To the person who said to write a letter - I'll be seeing him next month, but I want to be prepared before I see him.

To the person asking how I know it's his first conviction - he's my best friend and I know he's never even gotten so much as a caution.

I assume as it's 3 years on a first conviction, it's probably a pretty serious crime, that's why I want to be prepared because tbh if it's something like rape or sexual assault, I won't be going to visit him so that's why I wanna be prepared.

234

Have you gone through newspaper archives?

Esoteric_

Yup, as many as I could find, spent hours searching through them.

WAs just really wondering if there are any accessible court records that the public can view?

sparks24

if you know any cops ask them to type he's name into the pulse system that might show up whatever he was arrested for dont know about convictions

Kenny Logins

LyndaMcL wrote: »

Yup, as many as I could find, spent hours searching through them.

WAs just really wondering if there are any accessible court records that the public can view?

Try here -

http://courts.ie/courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/57073F80781CC1BC80256E540065AFB5?opendocument&l=en&p=240

MagicSean

sparks24 wrote: »

if you know any cops ask them to type he's name into the pulse system that might show up whatever he was arrested for dont know about convictions

That would be a serious breach of his privacy.

sparks24

Seanbeag1 wrote: »

That would be a serious breach of his privacy.

ya but if he was convicted of a crime he'll be on the courts registrar's list for that day somewhere and that surely is in the public domain

just might have being the easy option if the op knew a cop. i agree though the data commissioner would want to clean up the abuse going on across a lot of sectors especially social welfare and justice its a bit of a joke to be honest

Zambia

Yeah any Garda that gives out that info would spend weeks removing the foot from their arse if discovered. If they got to stay a Garda.

OP I cant imagine a first offence that resulted in three years being anything but pretty bad.

Unless he hired Homer Simpson QC.

Finnbar01

Can you not ask a family member?

Maybe look for Januarys newspapers online/local library?

Also normally, if its online google will find it.

Try searching his name in quotes and search for pages from Ireland.

odds_on

because tbh if it's something like rape or sexual assault, I won't be going to visit him so that's why I wanna be prepared.

Now he's going to find out who his real friends are.

Guy:Incognito

LyndaMcL wrote: »

To the person asking how I know it's his first conviction - he's my best friend and I know he's never even gotten so much as a caution.
.

I think this thread is proof that that possibley may not be true. He managed to go to court, get convicted and spend 6 months in jail before you found out. A day in court here and there over the years could have easily gone without notice.

superrdave

search for his name on the courts.ie website.

http://www.courts.ie/legaldiary.nsf/LookupPageLink/index?OpenDocument&l=en&p=070

Make sure to type the little 'legal diary' box in the top corner. Put his name in block caps. Whatever the most recent date is, that will probably be the day he was sentenced (assuming it was in Dublin, otherwise it could be any time in the following few weeks). Try putting his name and maybe the judge's name into google then, or google news, and you might find it.

If you pm me his name (if you want) i can try and find out for you but I should say this will be entirely from publicly available information. I have no inside track on any this but I could maybe help.

Victor

You could try contacting the family liaison office or chaplains in the prison. They may not be able to help directly, but could point you in the right direction.

Esoteric_

odds_on wrote: »

Now he's going to find out who his real friends are.

I don't think it's unreasonable to cut contact with a rapist, but hey, maybe I'm more concerned about victims than offenders and that's a horrible thing :rolleyes:


Thanks for all the advice, guys. Really appreciated

odds_on

LyndaMcL wrote: »

I don't think it's unreasonable to cut contact with a rapist, but hey, maybe I'm more concerned about victims than offenders and that's a horrible thing :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the advice, guys. Really appreciated

You can still like the guy - but not his deeds. Now is the time he may need support especially as so many of his "friends" have probably vanished.

charlemont

odds_on wrote: »

You can still like the guy - but not his deeds. Now is the time he may need support especially as so many of his "friends" have probably vanished.

Is that you, Larry ?
That court services search site is fairly bad, It doesnt seem to even cover District Court.

MagicSean

LyndaMcL wrote: »

I don't think it's unreasonable to cut contact with a rapist, but hey, maybe I'm more concerned about victims than offenders and that's a horrible thing :rolleyes:


Thanks for all the advice, guys. Really appreciated

Unfortunately a "rapist" can mean many things in a backward country. A 16 yr old boy who has sex with a 16 year old girl can find himself a sex offender. Technically, a man who has sex with a drunk woman is committing rape. This country has medieval laws when it comes to most sex crimes. It's important to look beyond the name of the crime to the actual facts of the case and the persons part in it.