THREE MEMBERS OF the Burke family have been banned from attending
High Court cases involving Enoch Burke in person for repeatedly
interrupting courtroom proceedings.
Judge Brian Cregan made the order in relation to Isaac, Ammi and Martina Burke this morning.
The order affects any High Court cases “directly or indirectly”
involving Enoch Burke and his dismissal by Wilson’s Hospital School.
They include cases involving the school, the Disciplinary Appeals
Panel (DAP) that upheld a decision to dismiss him, the Minister for
Education and the Disciplinary Panel of the Teaching Council.
The Burkes will still be allowed to dial into court hearings
remotely, but Judge Cregan said that if they breach the prohibition by
attending hearings in person, it would be considered contempt of court.
The judge issued the ruling after a series of interruptions during
the teacher’s cases involving Enoch Burke and Wilson’s Hospital that
have been heard since the end of last year.
Those hearings were initially brought by Wilson’s Hospital School
last autumn, after Enoch Burke continued to defy a court injunction to
stay away from the school’s grounds.
It also involved cases brought by Enoch Burke against members of the
DAP, a panel that met to consider whether his dismissal by the school
was fair.
In his judgment this morning, Judge Cregan said he had “lost count of
the number of times” Isaac, Ammi and Martina Burke had interrupted
proceedings, been asked to sit down, told to leave the courtroom and
been removed from his courtroom by gardaí.
He said the trio had “behaved disgracefully” and that he had “never
experienced anything” like their level of “interruption, shouting,
roaring and deliberate disruption” of court proceedings.
He said that the three were “clearly attempting to bully and abuse”
barristers for the school and defendants in the DAP case by calling them
“liars” and shouting them down.
“It is an extraordinary degree of intolerance and inability to listen to the other side,” he said.
The judge also said their actions were designed to “try and bully and
intimidate” judges in what was “an intolerable interference with the
administration of justice”.
Judge Cregan also criticised three other members of the Burke family,
including father Sean, brother Simeon, and sister Jemima, for
interrupting proceedings as well, though he did not bar them from
attending in person.
He described the behaviour of the family during courtroom proceedings as “co-ordinated and concerted”.
“If one member of the Burke family is unable to attend, other members
of the Burke family take their place and instead of listening to what
is happening to the proceedings, they seek to interject themselves in
the proceedings and to cause disruption,” he said.
Judge Cregan said the behaviour of the Burkes had taken up an
enormous amount of court time and had caused unavoidable delays,
resulting in a “significant inconvenience” to other litigants,
solicitors and barristers.
As a result, he said that on days when Enoch Burke’s case is before
the courts, registrars have to notify gardaí to attend the court, which
he said was also a “serious waste of Garda time”.
The judge noted that the Burkes complained that their exclusion from
court would prevent them from assisting Enoch in his cases, but said
they should have thought about this before constantly interrupting
proceedings.
“Actions have consequences and, in this case, their actions have led
to them being prevented from attending court,” he said, adding that the
Burkes can still help Enoch prepare his cases outside the courtroom.
He also rejected other complaints by the Burkes that they had a right
to attend court, that he was not an impartial judge, and that they
needed specific details of the conduct alleged against them so they
could defend themselves accordingly.
The judge said he was satisfied that the High Court could exclude
certain individuals to ensure the proper administration of justice,
saying that the Burkes could still attend court remotely and that
Enoch’s cases would still be heard in public.
Judge Cregan said that his order excluding the three Burkes is
“narrow in its scope” and only involved certain cases involving Enoch
Burke.
“The behaviour of the Burkes is indefensible and unacceptable in a court of law,” he said in his concluding remarks.
He described their behaviour as “an affront to the administration of
justice” and said it would no longer be tolerated by the courts.
Simeon Burke ordered out of courtroom
The hearing was attended by Enoch Burke and Isaac Burke remotely,
while Simeon Burke was present in the court as the judgment was read
out.
At the start of the hearing, Isaac Burke attempted to make
submissions but was muted by Judge Cregan before he read out his
judgment.
The court rose after the judgment was delivered, as both Isaac and
Enoch Burke shouted at Judge Cregan while he exited the courtroom.
When the court rose again to hear other cases, Simeon Burke
complained about Isaac not being able to make an application to put a
stay on the judgment.
Judge Cregan told Simeon that he had no right of audience and said
his ruling could be taken to the Court of Appeal if the Burkes did not
agree with it.
Simeon Burke described the matter as a “very serious issue” and told
Judge Cregan that he had not explained why his brother Isaac had not
been allowed to make an application.
The judge said this was a “fair point” and agreed to hear Isaac
Burke’s application for a stay after dealing with other matters on the
list.
The case returned again a short time later, when Isaac Burke again appeared remotely.
He told Judge Cregan that he had been treated with “disrespect”,
prompting the judge to tell him: “That is absolutely rich coming from
you.”
Isaac Burke then made his application for a stay on three grounds.
He said the judgment was “unprecedented” and had the effect of
“suspending certain aspects of the Constitution”, namely Article 34.1
which outlines that justice must be done in public.
He also complained that the Burkes had not been given “particulars”
about their behaviour in correspondence with the court, claiming that
Judge Cregan’s ruling this morning was “replete with generalisations and
hyperbolic statements”.
And he said that the three Burkes had effectively acted as Enoch’s
legal team throughout the former teacher’s court cases, and that they
had now been “cast out of the courtroom” in advance of further cases.
Judge Cregan again rejected these arguments.
He said that the Burkes’ own behaviour was “unprecedented” and that
the constitutional issue had been dealt with in his judgment.
The judge also said that the issue of fair procedures around giving
the Burkes specifics of their behaviour had been “dealt with
comprehensively”, and that it was “ridiculous and unstateable” to claim
they didn’t know the specifics.
He further said that the trio had “behaved disgracefully” as Enoch’s
legal team and that “no proper legal team would have behaved in such a
way” in court, adding that they should have considered their actions if
they wished to represent the former teacher in person in upcoming cases.
Isaac Burke then began berating Judge Cregan, calling him a “bully”
and saying the family had “acted honourably and righteously”.
“You have behaved self-righteously, Dr Burke” the judge responded.
Simeon Burke, who again appeared in person, then began interrupting
and asked the judge to reconsider his position, which he described as
“an abomination” and an “abuse of process”.
“Mr Burke, you are a young man at the start of your legal career. I
do not want to be disproportionate or unfair to you, but you have no
right to an audience in this matter,” Judge Cregan said.
When Simeon Burke continued to interrupt, he was asked to leave the
courtroom twice before being told he would be found in contempt of court
if he did not do so.
Three gardaí then approached Simeon Burke before he left the courtroom voluntarily.
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