Surgeon fails to have his passport returned

An emergency room surgeon who booked a flight from Cork to return to work in Portland, Oregon, failed to get his passport back from gardaí yesterday in a case where he is accused of dangerous driving causing the death of a woman in Cork.

Cedric Simpson, aged 50, has been on bail at Cork District Court having previously lodged €10,000 cash and adhered to other bail conditions.

However, when Mr Simpson returned to Cork District Court yesterday indicating he had booked a flight home to return to work pending a further adjournment of the case, there was an objection from the prosecution to the passport being returned to the accused.

Judge Kelleher said he would have no difficulty granting the return of the passport but not if there was an objection from An Garda Síochána.

The defendant was charged with dangerous driving at the Lower Glanmire Rd, Tivoli, Cork, on June 19 causing the death of Lynn Anderson, a New Zealand tourist.

The matter was adjourned until Monday for the application to return the passport to be considered further.