The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday described as "unduly cavalier" the handling by counsel for the DPP of an appeal by two men convicted of sexually assaulting a woman. The men were freed on bail last Monday because the DPP was not ready to deal with their appeal.
Mr Justice Keane, sitting with Miss Justice Carroll and Mr Justice Kelly, said they trusted such a situation would not happen again.
Mr Michael L. O'Higgins, the original counsel for the DPP in the case, said the court could rest assured he would carefully consider its decision.
Earlier, he apologised to the appellants and the court regarding the matter and said no discourtesy had been intended. If he had been aware one of his colleagues could not proceed with the appeal last Monday, he would have rescheduled his involvement in a murder trial and dealt with the appeal.
On Monday the Court of Criminal Appeal directed that Harpreet Singh (31), River Forest, Leixlip, Co Kildare, and Fajinder Jethi (41), Glenlyon Road, Knocklyon, Dublin, be freed on bail pending their appeals.
Both men were jailed for 20 months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on December 14th after they were convicted of sexually assaulting, falsely imprisoning and assaulting a woman causing her actual bodily harm, at an unknown place in Dublin on July 12th, 1997. The offences occurred after they gave the woman a lift.
When the appeal was called on Monday Mr Fergal Foley, for the DPP, said he was not in a position to proceed and sought an adjournment. The court subsequently directed that the appellants be freed on bail and also that Mr O'Higgins appear before the court to explain the situation.
At the outset of yesterday's hearing, Mr Foley said he had given careful consideration to the matter and was convinced the fault was his. He said he gave Mr O'Higgins the impression he had no difficulty dealing with the case.
This conversation occurred before he had an opportunity to see the papers, Mr Foley said. When he did so, he realised he could not proceed.
Mr Foley said he was first asked last Friday to take over the case. No formal arrangement was made about handing over the brief.
Mr O'Higgins said he was one of the counsel in the Brian Meehan murder trial. It had emerged that an element of that case for which he was responsible was likely to start last Friday.
On Friday Mr Foley agreed to do the appeal. Mr O'Higgins said he thought this was ample time to prepare a case and told Mr Foley he would discuss it with him.
He accepted he should have told Mr Foley last Friday that there was a difficulty locating the papers and that he should have made alternative arrangements.
After considering the matter, Mr Justice Keane, presiding, said the best feature of "this sorry saga" was that Mr O'Higgins accepted Mr Foley was not responsible, but was merely trying to assist a colleague.
The court was very concerned that the DPP was unable to proceed with the appeal in question due to the actions of counsel, who should have realised on July 7th that he had difficulties, notified the office of the DPP and ensured a colleague would have the brief.
The court was left on Monday where it had read lengthy transcripts for a case which did not proceed.