High Court says Kerry judge's jailing of Michelle Keane for contempt was 'manifestly unfair'

Judge rules former election candidate was denied fair procedures before being jailed over an alleged breach of a court injunction

High Court overturns former election candidate Michelle Keane contempt ruling over 'manifestly unfair' hearing. File picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

A judge in Kerry conducted a "manifestly unfair" hearing when he jailed former independent General Election candidate Michelle Keane for contempt of court over an alleged refusal to remove a social media post about a garda, the High Court has ruled.

Ms Keane is now expected to seek damages arising from her imprisonment.

Mr Justice Brian Cregan made the findings as he overturned a contempt ruling made by Judge James O'Donohoe at Listowel Circuit Court on December 10, 2024, when Ms Keane was committed to prison after allegedly refusing to give an undertaking to remove the post.

Ms Keane, who has two young children, purged her contempt after spending what Mr Justice Cregan described as "three difficult days" in Limerick Prison at a time when she needed to be at home with her children in the run-up to Christmas.

Contempt finding overturned

In the 2024 General Election, Ms Keane received 1,530 first-preference votes. She later sought to bring High Court proceedings alleging irregularities on election night, but those applications were unsuccessful.

In his judgment overturning the contempt finding, Mr Justice Cregan said Ms Keane was active on social media during both the general and local election campaigns, and that a number of complaints about her posts were made to gardaí.

Listowel-based Sgt Melanie Walsh, who brought the Circuit Court proceedings that ultimately resulted in Ms Keane's imprisonment, said she had been instructed to investigate complaints concerning posts alleged to be homophobic and racist.

Sgt Walsh telephoned Ms Keane and asked her to attend the local garda station to discuss the matter. Ms Keane, however, took offence and asked who had made the complaints and whether they had been submitted to undermine her political campaign.

In the following weeks, Ms Keane posted further material online, including a recording of the telephone conversation with Sgt Walsh, the judge noted.

Sgt Walsh subsequently initiated defamation proceedings and sought an injunction requiring the material to be removed. She also said she believed there could be "no interpretation" that anything she said during the phone call "could be deemed to be threatening or aggressive with the defendant".

Mr Justice Cregan said Ms Keane first became aware of the Circuit Court proceedings after reading about them in a local newspaper.

Fair procedures breached

Ms Keane argued she had not been properly served with the court papers and was too unwell to attend the injunction hearing, which she said should not have proceeded in her absence.

Although the injunction was granted, Ms Keane subsequently appealed to the High Court.

Meanwhile, a hearing seeking her attachment and committal to prison for contempt proceeded in the Circuit Court.

Mr Justice Cregan said Sgt Walsh's complaint at that hearing related to a single Facebook post in which Ms Keane stated that a "female garda in a North Kerry garda station tried to sabotage my political campaign".

He found that Ms Keane had never been served with documentation informing her that imprisonment was being sought, despite this being a fundamental requirement in attachment and committal proceedings.

Ms Keane also denied breaching the terms of the earlier Circuit Court injunction.

When the hearing took place, Judge O'Donohoe, after hearing from Ms Keane for about one minute during a hearing lasting approximately 10 minutes, instructed her to discuss with Sgt Walsh's legal team the terms of an undertaking she was required to give.

When no agreement was reached, the judge ordered that Ms Keane be committed directly to prison.

Mr Justice Cregan said that, having reviewed both the transcript and the audio recording of the hearing, it was clear that the proceedings were "manifestly unfair" to Ms Keane.

"It is a fundamental principle of constitutional and natural justice that the court must listen to the other side", he said.

He found that Judge O'Donohoe had not afforded Ms Keane any meaningful opportunity to be heard and had paid "no attention whatsoever" to what she said.

Constitutional rights breached

Mr Justice Cregan overturned the contempt finding on several grounds, including that Ms Keane had already removed a number of the posts and had indicated she would remove the remaining post if directed by the court.

He also found that she may have misunderstood the precise effect of the order and had not deliberately breached it.

The judge set aside the order committing Ms Keane to prison, ruling that it was unlawful.

He concluded that she had been deprived of her constitutional rights to fair procedures and a fair hearing.