JUDGE Eugene O’Kelly has warned that the courts are not a place for debt collection.
His comments came as he began to hear a case where a woman had her home badly damaged by teenage vandals. He said that the Gardai were not to be used as debt collectors if charges were brought against accused persons.
He said that the courts were not a place to extort payment for damage.
He was hearing evidence against a 17-year-old charged with criminal damage to a house where the front door and windows were broken. However, the chief prosecution witness took to the stand and said that she was not going to give evidence against her neighbour as she was “good friends” with the mother of the teenager and, “he said he would pay for the damage”.
When the judge asked if she would not give evidence against the accused, the witness replied that she just wanted the damage paid for.
Judge O’Kelly then asked if the witness was using the gardai as a debt collection agency. “You can’t get the gardai to bring charges against someone just in the hope they pay for the damage”, he said.
The witness denied this and said she just wanted “to give the young fella a chance”.
The court heard that the case had been fully investigated by the gardaí and that it was “unacceptable” that the State had been put to great expense to bring the matter to court.
“I have no option but to strike out the matter”, Judge O’Kelly said and he warned the homeowner that if the accused didn’t pay for the damage, there was “no point coming back to court”.
