Bailed Dublin teenager set to begin jail term for attempted murder

A Dublin teenager, whose six-year prison sentence for attempted murder was deferred last month, will go to jail tomorrow following a failed application for continuing bail.

Tadhg Costello (19) of Richmond Hill, Monkstown, was sentenced on March 7th to six years' imprisonment with the final three suspended for the attempted murder of Josh Leahy at Johnson's Court in Dublin on May 31st, 2012.

Costello had originally pleaded not guilty to attempted murder but changed his plea to guilty following a ruling by trial judge Mr Justice Paul Butler that his Garda interview recordings were admissible as evidence.

Mr Justice Butler deferred the committal order on foot of a Supreme Court ruling the previous day, flagged by counsel, which quashed an attempted rape conviction on grounds that suspects who request a lawyer cannot be questioned by gardaí until they get legal advice.

In the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday, Mr Justice William McKechnie, presiding, rejected arguments put forward by lawyers for Costello that the Supreme Court ruling had anything to do with the teenager’s application. The issue which arose during Costello’s trial, the judge said, was whether he or his mother had been informed of their right to consult a solicitor.

However, in the Supreme Court's ruling, the judge said, the applicant involved had activated his right to have access to a lawyer but "before the solicitor arrived, interviewing by gardaí had continued".

No question
Mr Justice McKechnie, along with Mr Justice Michael Moriarty and Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy, said there was no question of the criteria in the Supreme Court's ruling being satisfied and therefore the application must be refused.

The trial judge relied on evidence from a garda who said he advised Costello’s mother of their right of access to a solicitor in a telephone call. It was recorded on the custody record, he said.

The second basis for the decision was that Costello and his mother had attended a Garda station in 2011, where they were informed of their right.