Enoch Burke’s mother and sister have been released from Mountjoy Prison after two weeks behind bars.
Martina and Ammi Burke were jailed for contempt of court on Tuesday, March 31, after being at large for weeks.
Several attempts had been made to detain the women and bring them to prison, but Gardaí were unable to locate them in a public place to execute the warrant.
A judge had ordered their arrest on Wednesday, March 4, though they were not taken in until they attempted to visit Enoch at Castlerea jail.
Prison officers contacted Gardaí when they arrived and they were subsequently arrested.
Sean Burke, Martina’s husband and Ammi’s father, greeted the pair with a kiss as they left Mountjoy in Dublin on Monday.
Justice Brian Cregan had originally ordered that the pair should be jailed for two weeks each because of their behaviour at a High Court hearing in February.
Martina and Ammi were ‘repeatedly interrupting’ in the court, according to the judge, who said that their behaviour was ‘a paradigmatic case of contempt of court’.
He said: ‘They both knew full well that they had no right of audience and no right to speak, yet they persisted in standing up in court and shouting and roaring at the top of their voices. They did so simultaneously and in a concerted manner.’
The two women had to be removed from the court on the day in question, after proceedings had to be temporarily suspended.
While finding both women in contempt of court, the judge said it was clear that Enoch and other members of the Burke family believe that they are above the law.
He added: ‘There is no exemption for Christian evangelicals or climate change activists or animal rights activists or anti-abortion protesters. The law applies equally to all persons who seek to deliberately interrupt court proceedings and seek to disrupt them.’
The judge referred to Ammi, who is a solicitor, remarking that she ‘knows perfectly well the rules of conduct in court’ and said that her conduct on February 20 was ‘disgraceful and indefensible’.