A man accused of murder is a source of fear to people in Tralee, a High Court judge said yesterday.
Mr Justice Budd said he was gravely concerned that Mr Michael O'Brien has spent more than a year in custody awaiting trial for murder.
It might well be that Mr O'Brien did not have any intention of interfering with witnesses, the judge said. But he accepted the evidence that prospective witnesses had a grave fear of the accused and he would refuse a bail application.
In evidence to the court, Mr O'Brien denied making any threats to witnesses and said that, although he had previous convictions, his behaviour had changed.
Mr O'Brien (26), with an address at Mitchell's Road, Tralee, is currently detained in Cork Prison. He has been charged with the murder of Mr James Healy (17) of Shanakill, Tralee, in the Monavalley Industrial Estate in the town on February 22nd, 1997.
He was arrested on March 23rd, 1997, and has been in custody since, having been refused bail by Mrs Justice McGuinness on April 22nd, 1997.
In court yesterday Mr Brendan Mulhall, for the DPP, said the accused had been returned for trial on March 3rd last and was due to stand trial in the Central Criminal Court on November 9th, 1998.
Mr Brendan Condon, for Mr O'Brien, said that if he was not granted bail his client would have spent 20 months in custody by the time of his trial. The last court order refusing bail was a year old, counsel said.
Mr Mulhall said there would be evidence that people in Tralee were terrified of the accused. This was a case where there was also fear of interference with witnesses, counsel said.
If Mr O'Brien had been on bail, it was unlikely that he would have got such a speedy trial date, Mr Mulhall added.
Garda Supt John O'Connor said he believed Mr O'Brien would interfere with witnesses if granted bail. He said Mr O'Brien had threatened to kill one witness. If granted bail, he believed Mr O'Brien would carry out the threats he had made.
The superintendent said the accused held a dominance through fear over the community in which he lived. He said Mr O'Brien had a list of previous convictions which included burglary, assault causing actual bodily harm, assaults on a garda and a prison officer and carrying an offensive weapon he had made himself, consisting of a pole with lead in it and protruding rivets at the top.
Det Sgt John Brennan said he would be very worried for the safety of witnesses if the accused was released prior to his trial.
In evidence Mr O'Brien denied that he held some of the people of Tralee in fear. Although he had previous convictions, his behaviour had since changed, he said. An aunt could go independent bail for £25,000 and his father could pledge £5,000.
Mr Justice Budd said he was gravely concerned that Mr O'Brien, since his arrest, had spent more than a year in custody. Nevertheless, he accepted the evidence of the two gardai that prospective witnesses had a grave fear of the accused.
It might well be that Mr O'Brien did not have any such intention, but the reality of the situation was that he was a source of fear in Tralee and had difficulty at times in controlling his own propensity for violence.
While in principle he favoured granting bail pending trial, he was reluctantly coerced into refusing bail in this instance.