Nine objectors to bin charges and their supporters cheered and applauded in the High Court yesterday evening when a judge decided not to fine or jail them for alleged contempt of court. Ray Managh reports.
Mr Justice Dan Herbert told the seven men and two women he would make no order against them as he had sufficient doubt in his mind as to whether or not they realised they were actually committing a contempt of court.
The nine protesters were part of a group of 11 who had been detained by gardaí on Tuesday and brought to court on foot of an order directing the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána to arrest anyone who, with knowledge of the existence of court restraints, continued to breach them.
Two of the protesters were allowed home on Tuesday after apologising to the court and undertaking to comply with the court order.
Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill on Wednesday September 17th granted Fingal County Council an injunction restraining Mr Joe Higgins TD and Cllr Clare Daly and other named defendants from interfering with the council's waste collection service.
When he imprisoned Mr Higgins and Ms Daly two days later on September 19th to a month's imprisonment each for contempt of court, he directed the gardaí to arrest anyone else who, having knowledge of his order, continued to impede the council's waste collection service.
Mr Alistair Rutherdale, counsel for those arrested on Tuesday, said it was this order which gardaí had read out to protesters at bin lorry barricades.
He said his clients had never been personally served with the original order of September 17th and without evidence of that, yesterday's application by Fingal County Council to jail them for contempt was fundamentally bad.
Mr James Macken, SC, who appeared with Mr John Doherty, for the local authority, said a large number of Garda witnesses had told the court of the protesters before the court having continued to blatantly disregard the High Court order after it had been read out to them.
Judge Herbert said the case had given him a great deal of anxiety. The court was faced with the democratic right of every citizen of Ireland to make their point of view plain to people in power whether in central or local government to make their objection to a particular course of endeavour clear. "But they cannot take this right to demonstrate to the point of being in breach of the law," he said.
He was satisfied the evidence clearly established to him that the protesters before the court had become aware, from what was said by the Garda, of the order of the High Court of September 17th. Notwithstanding having been told this they had continued to act contrary to what the court had said they should not do.
"What concerns me is whether there was a sufficient mens rea (criminal intent) on the part of each of them to be in contempt of the order of the court," he said.