A CO Wexford man who was remanded in custody by a District Court judge because of confusion over his identity was released from the Four Courts yesterday after an order by the High Court.
Oliver Sludds, Tineshin, Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, formerly of Ballagh Cove, Enniscorthy, who was before Wexford District Court last Wednesday in connection with driving offences dating to April 2010, was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison after Judge David Anderson refused to grant him bail due to a confusion over his identity.
Mr Sludds (29) had also claimed during those proceedings that Judge Anderson had no jurisdiction to deal with the case unless he first produced his oath of office.
Yesterday at the High Court, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy directed Mr Sludds be released after he was informed the State “did not intend to seek to justify” his continued detention. The judge was informed the matter had been settled and costs had been agreed between the parties.
After his release, Mr Sludds was greeted and embraced by members of his family.
Mr Sludds’s lawyers sought an inquiry under Article 40 of the Constitution into the legality of his detention on grounds including that Judge Anderson had erred by remanding Mr Sludds in custody when gardaí, who had no issue in relation to his identity, had not objected to bail being granted.
Senior counsel Colman Fitzgerald, for Mr Sludds, said his client’s detention was unlawful because gardaí had “no issue in regards to Mr Sludds’s identity”. Judge Anderson, counsel said, was wrong not to grant him bail.
Counsel said gardaí at the District Court had not voiced a concern Mr Sludds would fail to turn up at a later hearing. Counsel also argued the motoring offences against Mr Sludds would not attract a custodial sentence.