No bail for man who shot publican

THE Court of Criminal Appeal has refused to grant bail to a man sentenced to life imprisonment for shooting publican Charlie Chawke during a robbery.

Yesterday, the court ruled that Frank Ward, who is seeking to have his convictions quashed, had failed to display there was a strong chance his appeal would succeed.

In 2007, Ward, 55, a married father of three, from Tallaght, was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for his role in the incident outside Mr Chawke’s restaurant and bar, The Goat Grill, in Goatstown, Dublin, on October 6, 2003.

Mr Chawke was seriously injured and his right leg was amputated five days later.

Judge Patrick McCartan imposed two life sentences for the charges of intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Chawke and robbery of €48,652 in cash and cheques.

The judge also imposed sentences of 12 years on two further charges of possession of a shotgun with the intention of resisting arrest and possession of a shotgun with the intention to commit robbery.

Ward had changed his plea to guilty to the charges before him on the second day of his trial. He appealed those convictions yesterday, claiming the convictions were “unlawful”.

The grounds of his appeal including that he had changed his plea from not guilty to guilty because he did not have confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary and because medication he was on had been interfered with and rendered him unwell during the course of the trial.