More court reports in brief.
Adoption Board decision challenged
A couple have brought a High Court challenge to decisions by the Adoption Board which, they claim, are preventing them proceeding with the adoption of a second child from Ethiopia. The couple have already adopted one Ethiopian child.
In seeking leave yesterday to bring the action, Peter Finlay SC, said his clients, despite holding a declaration of suitability and eligibility to adopt in Ethiopia and having arranged to adopt a baby girl, were in danger of losing the child within 12 days because of the board's actions.
He said the Minister for Justice had previously granted the necessary immigration clearance for them to bring a child from Ethiopia into the State and the matter was one of urgency.
The Adoption Board had on August 30th last issued a document to the couple confirming they were the holders of a declaration of suitability and eligibility to adopt a child outside the State and that the board had considered the adoption laws of Ethiopia and decided the adoptions effected in Ethiopia complied with Irish statutory requirements.
On October 12th last, the couple say the Adoption Board verbally advised them not to travel and not to adopt from Ethiopia.
Mr Justice Garret Sheehan said he would grant leave to the couple to bring the proceedings aimed at allowing them proceed with the proposed adoption and he returned the matter to tomorrow. The application was made on an ex parte basis, one side only.
Murder trial hears from taxi drivers
The Central Criminal Court jury in the trial of four men accused of the fatal shooting of a Limerick bouncer have been hearing from taxi drivers who were working in Limerick on the night of the shooting.
Gary Campion (24), Pineview Gardens, Moyross, Limerick; John (27) and Desmond (23) Dundon, both from Ballinacurra Weston, Co Limerick; and Clare businessman Anthony Kelly (50), with an address at Kilrush, all plead not guilty to murdering Brian Fitzgerald (34) on November 29th, 2002, at Brookhaven Walk, Mill Road, Corbally, Limerick.
The jury was also shown CCTV footage from St John's Hospital in Limerick from November 28th, 2002, in which Gary Campion was identified.
The trial continues at the Central Criminal Court sitting at Cloverhill before Mr Justice Peter Charleton and the jury of 12 men.
Two years for bicycle robbery
A man who knocked a teenager and his seven-year-old brother off a bicycle and then robbed it and a mobile phone has been given a two-year sentence by Judge Frank O'Donnell at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Leonard Finnegan (20), who told gardaí it was his bicycle which he lent to the 17-year-old victim, was previously advised by Judge O'Donnell to "have a think about where you're going".
Finnegan, with an address at Harold's Cross, Dublin, pleaded guilty to robbery at Dolphin's Barn Road on June 24th, 2005. He had 14 previous convictions which included stealing a car.