The defence barrister for a boy charged with falsely imprisoning former Tánaiste Joan Burton and her adviser claims he’s being denied a fair trial.
He wants the charges against his client dismissed because he doesn’t think the prosecution has proven its case beyond the required standard.
The boy, who’s now 17, is facing two charges of false imprisonment – one against the former Tánaiste Joan Burton – the other relates to her assistant Karen O’Connell.
He’s accused of detaining the women without their consent in two Garda cars for up to three hours after they’d attended a graduation ceremony in Jobstown in Dublin in November 2014 – an offence, which on conviction before the Children’s Court, carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison.
His barrister Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha has asked Judge John King to dismiss the charges because he feels the evidence isn’t there to convict.
He also raised concerns about the decision to charge him in the first place and what he believed to be a far too literal interpretation of the legislation.
Counsel for the DPP will spend most of the afternoon responding to the submissions.
