A MAN who took a photograph in the middle of a Circuit Civil Court case yesterday had his mobile phone seized and was told in court he had just committed an offence.
Liam Doyle, of Eblana Avenue, Dún Laoghaire, was asked by barrister Conor Bowman to surrender the camera/phone after he had taken photographs of a woman who was suing a nightclub for damages.
Mr Doyle told Circuit Court President Mr Justice Matthew Deery he did not know what he had done was illegal and apologised. His camera/phone was later handed over to gardaí at the Bridewell Garda station by solicitors McCartan and Burke.
Outside the court, Mr Doyle said he had been responsible for installing the CCTV system in the D2 nightclub at Dublin’s Harcourt Hotel which was being sued for damages by solicitor Aoife O’Neill, who fell there in August 2008.
“There had been some criticism of the CCTV and I was simply taking photographs in court to research how the CCTV could be improved,” Mr Doyle told the media after the court. He had not taken any part in the court case.
Ms O’Neill, of Millers Hall, Thomas Street, Dublin 8, had told the court she injured her right hand, shoulder and hip when she had fallen on a wet, slimy patch in the nightclub.
Judge Deery awarded Ms O’Neill €11,000 damages against Olema Consultants Ltd, which trades as The Harcourt Hotel, Dublin.
He said her hand and hip injuries had cleared up within weeks but she still suffered intermittently from the injury to her shoulder.
Solicitor Joe Burke, who appeared for Ms O’Neill with Mr Bowman, said after the case he had taken possession of Mr Doyle’s camera phone in court.
He would be handing it to Bridewell gardaí with a report on the in-court incident and said the pictures of Ms O’Neill would have to be removed from it. Further action would be a matter for the Garda.