A case against two men charged with opening tombs in a Kerry graveyard was adjourned yesterday when Judge Leo Malone refused jurisdiction as he did not view the alleged offences as minor and fit for summary trial.
A defence solicitor said he had never come across such charges before and could find no references in the textbooks.
The two men are charged with damaging tombs and with disinterring, disturbing and interfering with corpses on August 4th last at Raheala Graveyard, Ballyduff. Under cover of darkness the lids of the coffins had been removed and the shrouds pulled back in what Garda Supt Frank O'Brien believed was a search for valuables, the court heard.
A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Mr Mathew O'Donnell (23), Aughills, Castlemaine, Co Kerry, when he failed to appear at Listowel District Court yesterday. Mr Alan McNulty (28), Moreen Road, Sandyford, Dublin, was in court. The cases were linked and his client was pleading guilty to three charges of criminal damage to three tombs, Mr McNulty's solicitor, Mr Pat Enright said.The allegations over the remains of Jack Browne and Bridie Fitzmaurice were accepted. However, Mr Enright had a difficulty as he had never come across the charges before. An 1880 decision of the queen's bench in London referred to a case containing the charge, contrary to common law but in all the textbooks he could find no reference since. Supt O'Brien said the DPP directed these charges could be proffered and the matter could be disposed of summarily [in the District Court]. "This is a most unusual case and quite offensive. It involved the disturbance of human remains in a graveyard. The charges of criminal damage to the tombs does not reflect the totality of the behaviour of the accused in this case," he said.
The 1880 (Regina v Jacobson) case involved a builder excavating in a disused graveyard in Tottenham Court Road, London. He was convicted of a misdemeanour because he had exposed bones and not stopped excavating. On appeal the Lord Chief Justice found the bones had been subject to indignity, though the builder had not behaved in an indecent manner.
"This particular case [in Ballyduff] shows a conscious act to interfere for a particular purpose with the remains of deceased persons, to establish if there were any valuables in their tombs," Supt O'Brien said. While no provision had been made in law since 1880 for such an offence, the charges came within the remit of the court and the court did have the authority to impose penalties.
Judge Malone refused jurisdiction on all charges. He remanded Mr McNulty on continuing bail to March 23rd and ordered the book of evidence to be served.