Judge warns 'no-show' former GAA referee witness jails are already 'stuffed to the brim'

Stephen Maguire

A former GAA referee who prevented a court case from going ahead after he failed to appear has been warned by a Judge that the last thing he wanted to do was send another person to prison.

Judge Simon McAleese issued a stern warning after the referee failed to appear as a key witness at Letterkenny Circuit Civil Court in Co Donegal.

The case arose after a player received a blow to the face during a GAA game which resulted in the player losing a number of teeth.

However, before the case was due to start, barrister for the defendant, Mr Simon Gillespie, BL, told the court that he had summoned the match referee to court but that he had not yet turned up.

Mr Gillespie said the referee was a vital witness in the case outlining that a free kick had been awarded after the alleged incident but that no card had been given by the referee.

He added that it was only the referee in question who could give this evidence.

Judge McAleese allowed the defendant's solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher, time to contact the referee.

In evidence, Mr Gallagher told the court that he had spoken to the referee but that he said he was no longer a referee, that he wasn't in Co Donegal (on the day of the case) and that he "didn't care."

The former referee said he did not live in Convoy, where the summons had been sent to him at the Donegal GAA Centre of Excellence at Broadpath in Convoy.

Mr Gallagher said that having spoken with the referee, he was satisfied that he still lives in Co Donegal.

Mr Gillespie initially said that because the former referee was an agent of the GAA, he did not want him to be arrested and requested an adjournment to allow time for the referee to be served with a fresh witness summons.

Judge McAleese said he had sympathy for Mr Gillespie's position but that the former referee was his witness and the match official had said he "doesn't care."

The Judge said that he did not buy the notion that the former referee is a hapless chap doing a community service by reffing a match.

"He is like every other citizen and is accountable to court. He is giving us the flick."

And he warned, "The jails are stuffed to the brim, and the last thing we need is another person being committed to prison."

Mr Gillespie then replied that he was formally applying for a bench warrant but asked the court to put a stay on it and that the matter could be put in until next Friday.

Judge McAleese agreed and said the order of a bench warrant will not be lodged with Gardaí pending the outcome of the matter being mentioned on Friday of next week.

Barrister Peter Nolan, BL, acting for the plaintiff, said he had a number of witnesses in court who had taken time off work and that they needed to be compensated.

Judge McAleese agreed and said he will also address that matter next Friday.

He added that he appreciated refereeing is a voluntary job and that referees had a "horrible tough job to do at the best of times", but that didn't mean he could walk away from his legal obligations.

"Just because you are a referee and a volunteer and may be held in high esteem locally, it does not mean that you are above the law," added Judge McAleese.

He ordered Mr Gallagher to send both a text and a phone call to the referee and also a letter to the chairperson of the Donegal GAA in Convoy that will be personally delivered by a member of the county board to the former referee.

"The sheer nonsense that Mr XXXXXX has visited upon everybody today, he better be here, he better explain himself, and he better be fully appraised," warned Judge McAleese.