Sentencing postponed after lawyers walk out on murder-plot accused

A 35-year-old Dublin man who confessed to plotting a killing was left without a barrister at his penalty hearing because of an industrial dispute over legal-aid payments.

Sentencing postponed after lawyers walk out on murder-plot accused

A 35-year-old Dublin man who confessed to plotting a killing was left without a barrister at his penalty hearing because of an industrial dispute over legal-aid payments.

Jason Dunne, with an address at Cedarbrook Place in Ballyfermot, had admitted planning to murder Thomas McDonnell at Cookstown Cottages in Tallaght during a five-day window in late 2021. When his case was called at the Central Criminal Court on Friday, no solicitor appeared on his behalf.

Presiding judge Paul McDermott voiced sharp disapproval of the walk-out, telling the court that historically a lawyer wishing to withdraw would first seek judicial leave. That protocol was ignored here, he noted, as reported by the Roscommon Herald.

McDermott stressed that while he was adjourning the matter for the present, the judiciary could not be left in limbo indefinitely. He urged the profession to distinguish between proceedings already in progress and those yet to begin, and to reflect on their duty to accept legal-aid briefs unless solid grounds exist to decline.

Several other cases suffered the same fate earlier that day, with counsel informing the bench they had dropped instructions for trials set to start the following week. The judge granted those postponements as well, but warned that complainants and grieving families should not be forced to endure repeated delays caused by the representation crisis.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)