Judge wants safe refuge for paedophile

A judge said yesterday that he wanted “some safe refuge” outside prison for a convicted paedophile, Joseph O’Brien.

At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan made his comment before ordering the release from custody of O’Brien.

O’Brien, aged 62, has been on remand in prison for the last month after his solicitor, John Casey, told the court earlier this month that tabloid interest in the case had made accommodation impossible for his client.