Collins cleared over water protest

TD Joan Collins has been cleared of breaking the Public Order Act during a water protest in Crumlin in Dublin last year.

In what had been dubbed the ‘Crumlin 11’ trial, the outgoing independent TD and nine co-defendants were acquitted by Judge Aeneas McCarthy at Dublin District Court.

They had pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a garda’s direction to leave the vicinity of a protest. Two of the TD’s co-defendants also had charges for obstructing gardaí.