Water charges protesters released from prison

Four water charges protes-ters were yesterday freed from jail by the president of the High Court after he upheld their claims that they were unlawfully detained in Mountjoy Prison under a committal warrant that contained a number of errors.

Loud cheers and applause from supporters greeted the ruling of Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns and all four walked free from court, escorted by a group of jubilant backers.

The four were brought to court earlier under escort by eight prison officers and there was also a number of gardaí in court.

The four are: Damien O’Neill, Greenwood Park, Coolock; Paul Moore, Mount Olive Grove, Kilbarrack; Bernie Hughes, McKelvey Avenue, Finglas; and Derek Byrne, Streamville Rd, Donaghmede.

On February 19, Mr O’Neill and Mr Moore were jailed for 56 days, while Ms Hughes and Mr Byrne were jailed for 28 days.

In their proceedings under Article 40 of the Constitution claiming their detention was unlawful detention, the core argument advanced was that the committal warrant failed to properly reflect the High Court decision which convicted them for contempt and jailed them.

Their counsel, Micheál P O’Higgins, argued that the committal warrant reflected only the “punitive” aspect of Mr Justice Paul Gilligan’s decision and failed to indicate he had also left open the option of purging their contempt.

It was also argued that the warrant failed to include the name of Mr Justice Gilligan as required under the relevant court rules and wrongly included the Chief Justice, Susan Denham, in the body of the document.

In a brief ruling, Mr Justice Kearns directed that the four should be freed immediately due to “errors” in the warrant and said he will give his reasons for that in a detailed judgment this week.

He stressed the challenge related only to errors in the warrant and there was no allegation of any unfairness in the court hearing which led to the lawful conviction and jailing of the four for contempt of court orders, restraining interference with water meter installer GMC Sierra.

No complaint was being raised in this application about either the conviction or the sentence imposed, and no appeal had been brought against those, he said.

The issue concerned the “instrumentality” of how the four were actually committed to prison and that procedure was not a judicial function, he noted.

The committal warrant was “the only justification” for the detention and was “lacking in a number of key respects”, he said. While some may see errors in a committal warrant as technical in nature, such errors are “critical” in the context of applications under Article 40.

As a result of those errors, and although the four remain lawfully convicted and sentenced, the court would direct their immediate release, he said.

Meanwhile, a fifth water meter protester committed to prison for contempt of court has apologised for breaching an order restraining him from coming within 20m of installation works.

Michael Batty had been committed to prison last month along with four other protesters but he was out of the country for health reasons at the time.

Mr Justice Paul Gilligan said Mr Batty had apologised and had given a solemn undertaking that he would abide by the court’s order of November 5, 2014.

The sentence of 28 days’ imprisonment was suspended for six months from yesterday.

Counsel for GMC Sierra, Jim O’Callaghan, said his side was happy to accept the undertaking.

Speaking outside court, solicitor Cahir O’Higgins said his clients were released on foot of a habeas corpus application to the High Court moments earlier.

Mr O’Higgins emphasised no criticism was being made of the High Court judge.

“This is a point that was litigated on technical grounds,” said Mr O’Higgins. “As a solicitor acting on behalf of people who find themselves in custody, it’s very important we vindicate their entitlements to accessing the justice system correctly and sometimes this involves litigating technical points in order to garner advantage or liberty for the clients in those type of circumstances.”

Mr O’Higgins, who spoke in Irish during his comments, said his clients had a great deal of respect for the process.

“It is fundamentally an issue of protest,” he said. “My clients have been given a second chance by virtue of this technical point and we need to reflect on how they wish to proceed in terms of making their point in a sensible, dispassionate, and tasteful way.”

Mr O’Neill thanked everybody “in the country who stood up for us” and his legal team. “Back to normal. No more meters going in anywhere,” he said.

Ms Hughes said the campaign will move forward and get stronger. She said it had been proven since they went into prison that “people hadn’t desisted and people will continue to oppose water meter installation”.

She said:

“Middle Ireland will see that they should come out and support this campaign because it’s not just about water, it’s about everything that’s happening in this country at the moment — the corruption of all the politicians, the people that are dying at the end of ropes because they cannot afford their mortgages.

“It’s come into vogue in the last couple of weeks...

Ordinary people are being thrown out of their homes and it’s just not right.”

Ms Hughes said the five had been “vindicated”.