Sinister motives claim in organic shop case

THE proprietor of the Organic Shop in the English Market in Cork accused the Department of Agriculture and Food of having sinister motives for the way in which it prosecuted him.

The case against Marc O’Mahony of the Organic Shop in the English Market, Grand Parade, Cork, was before Judge David Riordan at Cork District Court yesterday.

The defendant’s solicitor, Veronica Neville, made the allegation against the department and said that a delay issue might be judicially reviewed in the High Court.

Barrister Donnacha McCarthy for the Department of Agriculture said the summonses related to December 22, 2006, and 12 months was the period allowed for the issuing of summonses in this area.

Ms Neville said: “We believe there is a more sinister motive behind the fact that the summons was not issued until September.

“The immediate obvious thing is there has been a delay. This matter could have been dealt with far more expeditiously and we say it ought to have been.”

The solicitor also applied for a copy of the statements that the department would be relying on in bringing the case.

The judge then granted what is commonly called a Gary Doyle order, which is an order for the prosecution to send their statements to the defence to show what evidence is against him.

The judge then adjourned the case for two months.

On December 19, a date will be fixed for the hearing of the case if the defendant does not wish to plead guilty to the charges.

The first count against O’Mahony states that on December 22 he labelled a product — namely turkey — which had not been produced or imported by an operator who was subject to inspection measures for organic products required under European legislation.

The second count states that the defendant advertised organic turkey in the Hollybough newspaper in December 2006, which allegedly had not been produced or imported by an operator who was subject to inspection measures for organic products required under European legislation.