A round-up of other court stories in brief.
Malnourished woman's death inquest
A woman who battled an eating disorder for more than 20 years weighed just 27kg (4¼ stone) at the time of her death, an inquest heard yesterday, writes Georgina O'Halloran.
Margaret Traynor (55), Ard na Gréine, Dublin, died at Beaumont Hospital in April of pneumonia and malnutrition due to an eating disorder, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday. Her husband said she never seemed to eat.
Dr Chris Thompson, who treated Ms Traynor, said her weight was very low at the time of her admission on March 31st and she developed pneumonia. Because of her malnutrition, it was not expected that she would survive, the court heard, but she progressed. She died on April 18th.
Man not guilty of IRA membership
A man walked free from the Special Criminal Court yesterday after being found not guilty of IRA membership. Philip Bollard (22), Lucan, Co Dublin, had denied the charge.
Mr Justice Paul Butler, presiding at the three-judge court, said they could not convict Mr Bollard solely on the evidence of his failure to answer questions during interrogation.
Appeal bail denied to child rapist
The Court of Criminal Appeal has refused to grant bail to a Dublin man who is appealing his conviction for the rape of his partner's teenage daughter.
Christopher Griffin (37), a father of two from Swords, was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last January of oral rape in 1998, rape in 2001 and nine charges of indecent assault from 1993 to 1998.
Griffin was sentenced in April to life imprisonment by Mr Justice Paul Carney. Now 21, the woman waived her right to anonymity and asked that Griffin be identified.
Applying for bail, Martin Giblin SC, for Griffin, argued that his client's appeal had a strong chance of success. The grounds of appeal included the holding of the trial at Cloverhill, which was "a prison camp" with airport-type security and was prejudicial to his client.
Media coverage was also an aggravating factor in relation to the perception that the trial was unfair.
Mr Giblin said Mr Justice Paul Carney should have disqualified himself from the trial because, while a barrister, he had twice represented Griffin during the 1980s. Mr Justice Carney had said he had no recollection of representing Griffin. Dismissing the application, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, presiding at the three-judge court, said that while some of Mr Giblin's points were novel, the court felt none of them had a likelihood of success.
The court's decision on the bail application was not a determination on the overall appeal, Mr Justice Hardiman stressed.
Murder verdict appeal dismissed
The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a man against his conviction for murdering a Co Waterford mother of two.
Mary Walsh was a loan company agent who was murdered for money, the trial of her killer was told.
Samuel Jennings (61), originally from Scotland but with an address at Ashtown, Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford, was convicted at the Central Criminal Court last November of the murder of Ms Walsh, Kilrossanty, Co Waterford, in 2004. Jennings, who denied the charge, was given the mandatory life sentence.