Month: August 2022

A barrister, Diarmuid Phelan (53), has been charged with the murder of Mr Greene on farmland near his home on February 22.

A Dublin man who was killed while out hunting with his dog on farmland in Tallaght earlier this year died as a result of a gunshot wound to the head, an inquest has heard.

A preliminary hearing of the inquest into the death of Keith ‘Bono’ Greene was opened and adjourned at Dublin District Coroner’s Court today.

Mr Greene (35), a father of four from Kiltalown Park, Tallaght, suffered a fatal injury after being shot on lands at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, on February 22, while out hunting rabbits with some friends.

To read the full story please visit:
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/dad-of-four-35-who-died-while-hunting-with-his-dog-was-killed-by-a-gunshot-wound-to-the-head-inquest-hears-41913082.html

The Irish courts remained extremely busy in 2021, with over 531,000 new cases and over 405,000 cases resolved, according to the latest Courts Service annual report.

“Adaptation and innovation are two words which might best describe our efforts in 2021, as we dealt with the ongoing effects of a worldwide pandemic, and the impact it had on people’s right of access to justice, and on the administration of justice more generally,” Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell writes in the foreword to the report.

“Those efforts saw many matters dealt with in new and flexible ways including the extension of remote hearings (virtual courts), the use of non-Courts Service venues, such as Croke Park for trial hearings, and the large-scale take-up and efficient use of appearances by video-link between courts and prisons.”

The report shows that new personal injury actions at Circuit Court levels were down by 12 per cent, whereas possession cases were up by 75 per cent. There was also a 25 per cent reduction in new defamation cases at Circuit level.

To read the full story please visit:
https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/irish-courts-dealing-with-over-half-a-million-cases-per-year

The last person convicted of practising witchcraft has been exonerated – 329 years later.

Elizabeth Johnson Jr’s name was cleared following the efforts of a primary school teacher and her pupils.

Ms Johnson was sentenced to death in 1693 but was granted a reprieve and avoided execution. The exoneration was included in a $53 billion state budget and was the culmination of a lobbying effort by teacher Carrie LaPierre and a state senator.

Ms LaPierre said she was “excited and relieved”. She added: “We called her E.J.J., all the kids and I. She just became one of our world, in a sense.”

To read the full story please visit:
https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/us-last-woman-convicted-in-salem-witch-trials-exonerated