A County Donegal publican and his family, who had 160 summonses against them dropped by the DPP, have failed to recover their costs in the District Court. Judge John O'Donnell said that he did not have the power to state case to the High Court for costs against the Director of Public Prosecutions. Under District Court rules, costs cannot be awarded against the DPP. The Judge said that if that section of those rules was unconstitutional, it was not a matter for him to decide. No reasons were given by the DPP when the summonses, which cover 192 charges against Frank McBrearty and others, were dropped last month.
Most of the charges alleged breaches of the licensing laws and road traffic act. The cases, which involved 41 days in court for the family, will ultimately cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds, according to their legal team. They are now considering other options to recover the costs and may seek a judicial review of Judge O'Donnell's decision.
The family has said that they were denied the opportunity to air what lay behind the summonses when they were suddenly dropped by the State. This wider issue, they say, will now be dealt with by the High Court. The McBrearty family confirmed that they will now be seeking damages for false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and breach of their constitutional rights.
