The Gazette 1974

driving, causing the death of Margaret Healy on Feb- ruary 24 at Loughatalia, on the Midleton-Whitegate road. Cork Circuit Court was told of a chase by a Garda car after Kelly—who was said to have been drinking— had been seen to "narrowly miss" the gardai. Ga r da J ohn Burke and Detective Ga r da Patrick Mu r p hy turned their car and followed the defendant's car, signalling it to stop several times. Eventually, they passed out the car, but Kelly continued driving. He was said to have veered towards a group of women walking on their correct side, but at the last moment pulled out, narrowly missing the woman on the outride. T h e car then struck a parked car and an oncoming motorcyclist—the deceased, Margaret Healy- After the impact, the car continued to push the motorcycle in front of it and came to a halt after hitting a ditch, the court heard. Kelly was, in Ga r da opinion, under the influence of drink. While being taken away in a patrol car he did not remember anything about the accident and burst into laughter several times. Ga r da Inspector Maurice Mu r r ay of Midleton, said Kelly had been charged with dangerous driving in 1967 and convicted of a lesser charge of careless driving. Denis Bernard told the court he had been driving the car earlier in the day when going to a funeral» accompanied by Kelly. Th ey drank in several public houses and he asked Kelly to drive him home. He dozed off in the car and knew nothing about the accident. Accused said in evidence he was used to driving 3 motorcycle, or a tractor. On the day of the funeral he drank whiskey and beer, but had no idea he would be driving later. Denis Bernard had said he was tired and asked him to drive him home. At the time, said Kelly, he did not realise he was not fit to drive and had no recollection of wh at happened after that. When the Gardai stopped him he had no idea he had killed somebody and he had not driven a car since. Said Judge Neylon : "It is appalling, and that is the only way to describe it. A man drives a car and he cannot remember driving and, even when driving does not remember what he was doing because he was drunk." Th e re was no excuse for a man coming out of a pub and driving when he knew he was not capable of driving, no matter who suggested or invited him to drive, added the Judge. T h e only fortunate feature of the case was that more people had not been killed, the man was a menace to his fellow citizens and should never be allowed to drive a mechanically-propelled vehicle again. [People (Attorney General) v. Kelly; Cork Circuit Court (Judge Neylon); unreported; 3 November 1973.] Loophole found in Fishery Law—French skipper cleared. T h e High Court in Dublin found a loophole in the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959, relating to fishing inside the territorial waters of the State. As a result of the decision of Mr. Justice Gannon, the skipper of the French trawler, Caprice Flow, had quashed the conviction and £ 1 00 fine against him under Section 221 of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act, 1959, of fishing inside the territorial waters of the State, 58

general meeting and these words were in his opinion, incapable of being extended to cover the position as to the majority required for removal beyond a period up to the the next annual general meeting. Stack and others v. McEnery and others; Supreme Cou r t; unreported; 8 February 1974.] Extradition Order deemed void—wrong venue. In the High Court in Dublin Mr. Justice Pringle held that an extradition order ma de by District Justice O ' Donov an in Cork on November 7 last was made with- out jurisdiction and was null and void. T h e order had been made in respect of Brian McDonald (36), of Newry Road, Dundalk, on foot of a warrant charging him with obtaining £3,025 by false pretences from the Ulster Bank, Bradbury Place, Belfast, between J une 7 and July 8, 1971. In his action he had claimed a declaration that the provisions of Part I II of the Extradition Act, 1965, were inconsistent with, and repugnant to the Constitu- tion, and he had challenged the order on other grounds. He was arrested by Detective Ga r da Michael Joseph Scanlon in Cork on November 24 and remanded by a Peace Commissioner until November 27, or until the warrant from Northern Ireland, duly endorsed, was pro- duced to the person having his custody, whichever was the earlier. He was lodged in Limerick Prison. On November 25, Detective Ga r da Scanlon went to Limerick Prison with the warrant and the Governor of the prison released Mr. McDona l d. Mr. Justice Pringle said that Ga r da Scanlon had said that he explained to Mr. McDonald the procedure which would have to be gone through and told him that he could if he wished, drive with him to Cork and be arrested there (where he had arranged for someone to go bail for him) and that Mr. McDona ld had agreed to this. Mr. McDonald had accompanied the Ga r da to Cork and was arrested there. T h e Ga r da had said, however, that if Mr. McDonald had not agreed to go with him he would have arrested him in Limerick, so it was clear that his movements were restricted. Mr. Justice Pringle said that Mr. McDon a ld must be deemed to have been arrested in Limerick and he should thereupon have been brought before a justice of the District Court for the Limerick District in accordance with Section 45 (2). Having regard to his decision as to the invalidity of the order of November 27, said Mr. Justice Pringle, it was not necessary for him to deal with any of the othe matters argued before him, including the question as to the constitutionality of Part I I I of the Act so f ar as it applied to Northern Ireland. [ The State, Brian McDona l d, v. Attorney General; Pringle J.; unreported.] 50-year ban on drink driver who could not recall killing woman. A 24-year-old Co. Cork man was banned from driving for 50 years and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for what the judge described as the worst case in his 33 years' experience. "A more grisly case was never disclosed to the Court, in my opinion. It is the kind of conduct people are calling out against—and it is the kind of conduct that is going to stop," said Judge Neylon when Brendan Kelly of Tullough, Cloyne, pleaded guilty to dangerous