Council faces trial by judge and jury over death

Cork County Council faces the prospect of trial by judge and jury following the service of a book of evidence on the local authority yesterday.

The council appeared as a defendant in Cork District Court yesterday in a health-and-safety prosecution arising out of the death of a workman during tree-felling in 2012.

Michael O’Donovan, a 44-year-old father of three, from Aghabullogue, Co Cork, and an employee of Cork County Council, was killed while working on a compound off Carr’s Hill, Douglas, in November 2012.