The judge who became embroiled in controversy for failing to disqualify two drivers who travelled at speeds of over 190kph on the Mullingar bypass has defended his sentencing policy.
Judge John Neilan condemned the use of "foul language" by "commentators" and members of "any statutory authority" and said it was unfair that the two drivers who came before him last week at Mullingar District Court had been described as "imbeciles".
His decision to impose fines of €2,000 on the two drivers was described as too lenient by Gay Byrne, chairman of the Road Safety Authority.
Judge Neilan said yesterday: "These people are now using emotive terms and trying to generate as much hype and hysteria as they can."
Referring to the release to RTÉ of a videotape of the men speeding, the judge said that those who condoned the conduct of the gardaí in this instance were also condoning the conduct of the gardaí in the McBrearty and Dean Lyons cases. If people were proposing a "return to lynch law", then he could no longer remain a member of the judiciary. His comments came when a Polish man appeared before him accused of dangerous driving. The court heard that the man had overtaken two cars on a road where no overtaking was permitted.
Judge Neilan said he had to be consistent in his sentencing with rulings of the higher courts and, because of this, he had sought details of all dangerous-driving cases he had dealt with this year, and the decisions made on them if they were appealed. When he tried to jail drunken drivers his decisions were overturned by the Circuit Court, and when he tried to remand them in custody for seven days he was told by the Minister for Justice that such a move would be illegal. He challenged commentators to look at his work over 20 years as a District Court judge and said they would find he had applied disqualifications in more cases than most.