Woman ejected from Kildare court session
CROSS-ALLEGATIONS
A woman was thrown out of Naas District Court on Thursday, April 20, for disrupting a court session.
Jeanne Banks, 42, with an address given as Moorefield Cottages in Newbridge, was ejected after she kept speaking over solicitor David Gibbons, who was defending one Chris McCormack, 46, of 3 St Martin’s Park.
Mr McCormack was not present in court on the date in question.
Gardaí told Judge Desmond Zaidan that the two were former neighbours, and had levelled accusations against one another.
Ms Banks alleged that on June 7, 2020, Mr McCormack stole some CCTV cameras from her home at the time.
Meanwhile, it was alleged that Ms Banks was accused of a trespassing offence and a criminal damage offence on June 7.
Both parties have pleaded not guilty to the allegations.
While Ms Banks’ barrister, Mark Gibbons, was speaking to the judge, she interrupted him by alleging that she had to move out of her old home because of Mr McCormack.
Ms Banks also said that she had evidence on her phone which would help her case.
At one point, when she talked over Mr Gibbons by making another allegation about Mr McCormack, one which was not detailed before the court, Mr Gibbons said: "I won’t stand for this."
Following this, the woman took off her jacket and displayed her t-shirt to those in attendance at the courtroom, which had the phrase 'Another Woman Silenced' on it.
This was met by some laughter and some applause from other people in the courthouse.
Judge Zaidan then ordered gardaí to remove Ms Banks from the courtroom, and said to her barrister: "Her liberties went way beyond (what was appropriate)... It’s not right to make these kinds of allegations in court when the man isn’t present to defend himself."
Given the contested nature of the case and the fact that the prosecuting garda was out on sick leave, the case was adjourned to July 27 for hearing.
The judge also marked the case for entry against both parties.