THE CONTROVERSIAL owner of Dartmouth Square in Dublin, Noel O’Gara (66), had a five-year driving ban upheld in the Circuit Court in Athlone yesterday after he declared it had “no jurisdiction” and was “run by gangsters”.
O’Gara, of Ballinahown Court, Ballinahown, Athlone, was appealing the ban and a €1,500 fine handed down in the District Court in June after he was convicted of careless driving.
His initial four-year ban had been extended by an extra year after he told the judge on that date he was “making a big mistake” if he thought he would put him off the road for four years.
In court yesterday, O’Gara was accompanied by UK anti-establishment activist Patrick Cullinane.
Together they tried to get Judge Anthony Hunt to accept a self-penned, 30-page manifesto invoking God, the EU and the Magna Carta as grounds for a trial by jury.
After his attempt to make a speech earlier in the day had been quickly stopped by the judge, Mr Cullinane was told to hand in the document “in the normal way, like a solicitor”, but again he attempted to read from it instead.
Judge Hunt asked Mr Cullinane whether he was a solicitor, and when he discovered he was not, told him: “If you’re not a lawyer, I’ve no interest in you.”
“You have no jurisdiction to hear this case,” said Mr Cullinane.
“I have every right,” said the judge, before asking O’Gara to represent himself.
However, O’Gara protested at what he alleged was the cursory attention Judge Hunt gave his defence document. “You’ve just quickly looked at that document before putting it away,” said O’Gara.
“Proceed with your appeal or I’ll affirm the District Court Order,” said the judge.
“You have no jurisdiction over this, and I’ll take it to a higher court,” said O’Gara.“You haven’t even read it. What kind of judge are you? This isn’t a court of law, it’s run by gangsters,” said O’Gara as he was escorted from the court. The judge affirmed the driving ban of the District Court and rejected the appeal.