Ó Snodaigh says Sunday World's 'blind eye to car-jacking' article defamed him

An article which Dublin Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh claims wrongly accused him of failing to report a serious crime to gardaí has been removed from the Sunday World newspaper's website, the High Court heard today.

The TD has brought legal proceedings arising from an article in the newspaper, published on January 9 last under the headline "Aengus Turns Blind Eye To Car-Jacking", which referred to the theft of Mr O Snodaigh's car from outside his Dublin home on the night/early morning of December 28 last. The car was later found burned out.

The article stated Mr Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin's Justice spokesman, failed to report the theft. However, he says that claim was wrong and he had reported the matter to gardaí.

As a result, the TD issued defamation proceedings and had written to the Sunday World asking it to remove the article from the website and not repeat the falsehoods in future editions of the newspaper.

Last Friday the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, granted the TD short notice of an injunction application aimed at having the article removed from the Sunday World's website.

Today, Ross Maguire SC, for Mr O Snodaigh, said that the article has been taken down from the Sunday World's website and the newspaper had published a clarification about the article in last Sunday's edition of the newspaper.

Mr O'Snodaigh is SF's Justice spokesman and a member of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee, a think tank involved in analysing crime trends and formulation of policy on crime prevention.

Previously the court heard that on December 28 last, Mr Ó Snodaigh's car was stolen from outside his home and burned out. His lawyers said that the TD reported this fully to gardaí the next morning when he came aware of it. Gardaí informed him the matter was already reported by a local resident.

However, the Sunday World published an article headlined "Aengus Turns Blind Eye To Car Jacking". The article featured a photo of Mr Ó Snodaigh with a caption "no complaint" while articles on the opposite page related to Limerick criminals and another man alleged to be a "notorious crime lord".

The TD claims the article has damaged to his reputation. He further claims that the article has opened him to a charge of gross hypocrisy undermining his position as a TD and member of the Joint Policing Committee and was all the more damaging in a general election campaign.