Cavan Judge hits out at 'revolving door' in prisons
Man serves just one day of five-month sentence
A district court judge has hit out at the “revolving door” system in certain prisons meaning some jailed defendants are released almost immediately because there simply isn’t room for them.
Speaking at Monaghan District Court last week, Judge Raymond Finnegan voiced his frustration at the increasing frequency with which certain prisoners are being released, some almost immediately, or after serving very short periods of their sentence.
His comments came after it emerged that a repeat public order offender, who had been jailed for five months on May 14 last, was given temporary release after spending just one night in prison.
Judge Raymond Finnegan castigated what he scathingly referred to as the “great deterrent” the Prison Service was providing in this instance.
The defendant’s barrister, Sara Brennan concurred, stating that the prisons are full and “nobody wants a prison in their town”.
Agreeing, the prosecuting Garda sergeant, Lisa McEntee, said: “That’s the problem.”
Borderline kleptomaniac
The revolving door issue in prisons also came under the spotlight at the court on April 28 last when the judge imposed a five-month prison term on a 35-year-old woman he had referred to as a “borderline kleptomaniac”.
Ruth Oburu of 46 Lodge View, Cootehill had pleaded guilty to stealing toiletries and groceries worth €20 from Foy’s SuperValu, Cootehill, on Sunday, April 27, the day before the hearing. It had been confirmed by Ms Brennan BL that her client was out on temporary release despite having received two consecutive two-month sentences only 15 days earlier on April 12.
Judge Finnegan had commented on that occasion on the “revolving door” in prisons remarked that Ms Oburu might or might not serve any sentence imposed, before handing her a five-month prison term.
It subsequently emerged that Oburu was indeed released early yet again.
She appeared at Monaghan District Court again on Monday, May 26, before another judge where she pleaded guilty, along with a female co-defendant, to a burglary offence in Cootehill on May 19 gone by.