DPP delays adding to Donegal court backlog

Delays from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are adding to a logjam of court cases in Donegal.

At a sitting of Letterkenny District Court, Sergeant Jim Collins said that the force was facing delays in obtaining forensic science data in relation to a case.

Adriano Coelho Alves Peixoto, a 48-year-old with an address at Churchlands, Manorcunningham, is charged with unlawfully possessing a controlled drug in 2021.

Peixoto is charged with having unlawfully in his possession a controlled drug to wit, namely Methylenedioxymethamphetamine or more commonly known as MDMA. The offence is contrary to Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and contrary to Section 27 (1) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 as substituted by Section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1984.

The alleged offence is dated June 28, 2021 at Trensallagh, St Johnston.,

“It is a substantial investigation, but two years is pushing it,” Peixoto’s solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher, told the court.

Peixoto is also charged with road traffic offences from March 15, 2021. Peixoto is charged with using an instrument to wit, a driver’s license, which was and which he knew or believed to be a false instrument; driving without a license; driving without insurance; and with giving Gardai a false name, address and date of birth.

Judge Vincent Deane granted a short adjournment with the case put back to June 19, 2023 for DPP directions.

The adjournment was marked peremptory against the State, meaning directions must be available on the next date.

Speaking about a subsequent family law matter which was due to be heard, solicitor Ms Catherine Bonner said it was her experience that it was ‘so hard to get a hearing in this court as there is such a back up.”

Judge Deane said: “It is backed up not in volume, but in the quantity of each case.”