Bench warrant for man whose reason for being in court 'does not wash' with Judge

A bench warrant has been issued for a man who was due to appear in court on a raft of charges after his solicitor said he could not attend for a number of reasons.

Francis Lynn was due to attend a special sitting of Letterkenny District Court on Friday.

Mr Lynn, 40, faces a number of alleged charges including harassing a woman, damaging a car, breaching the peace and also having a knife in his possession.

He is charged that between September 10, 2019 and August 28, 2020 at Glenveagh Court in Letterkenny he harassed Rebecca Boggs.

He is also charged that on May 22nd, 2022, at Milltown Court in Kilmacrennan, he did have a knife which had a blade which was sharply pointed. This charge was under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.

Lynn was also charged that on the same date and address he damaged a blue Honda Accord car belonging to Lennon McDevitt by scratching it.

He was also charged with a breach of the peace on this occasion and at this location.

The accused is also charged that on April 9th, 2022 at Milltown Court, Kilmacrennan, he assaulted Garda Stephen Taylor. This charge is Contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

Lynn is also charged with another breach of the peace on July 5, 2022 at Pearse Road in Letterkenny.

The court was told that a number of witnesses including Gardai and lay witnesses were in court for the case.

However, when his case was called, solicitor for Mr Lynn, Ms Catherine Taaffe, told the court her client was not present.

She explained that her client had been released from prison on January 9 in connection with other matters.

She said she had spoken to Mr Lynn and that he had intimated that he had not had enough time to air his defence and did not feel that he had received all disclosure from Gardai.

Ms Taffe also explained that her client was on disability allowance and that this had only been reinstated on January 15 after he came out of prison. Because of this, she was unsure if he had access to money to be able to travel to court.

Judge Alan Mitchell replied that if there were issues then Mr Lynn should have raised these in correspondence with the court.

Responding, Garda Inspector Paul Gallagher said that documents and statements had been complied with on November 14, 2024.

Judge Mitchell said: "At the end of the day this was set down for hearing and this is a hearing date."

He said that if money was the issue then Mr Lynn could have approached a family member or gone to St Vincent de Paul for help.

However, he added that he did not wish to take Mr Lynn short, remarking that he may be on the bus from Co Leitrim and gave him an extra half an hour.

When the case was called again, Ms Taffe told the court that she had spoken to her client but he had said that he was mentally and physically unfit to attend court.

Judge Mitchell asked Inspector Gallagher how he would like to proceed and he said that because of the seriousness of some of the charges he would be applying for a bench warrant from the court.

The Judge agreed, adding that Lynn's claim of not having enough time "does not wash with me."

He issued a bench warrant and apologised to the lay witnesses, the Gardai and to Ms Taffe who had traveled from Co Louth for the hearing.

"There will be another day," said Judge Mitchell.