Broke bail conditions 'willy nilly', said judge

Judge MacBride expressed his dissatisfaction to the gardaí in Cootehill that a man who was on bail, with strict conditions, has left the jurisdiction and is now in England. When Mark McDermott (31), 52 Lodge View, Cootehill, failed to appear at Cavan District Court last Thursday to answer charges relating to contravening a barring order, the judge was informed by a garda that the defendant was now in England. Asked by Judge MacBride how they knew this, he was told that the information came from Mr. McDermott's sister and brother. "How on earth if you were monitoring the strict bail conditions can you say that he's in England?" asked Judge MacBride pointing out that those conditions included signing on at Cootehill garda station and a curfew, which the gardaí had liberty to check on. "It's your job to check that he is signing on and observing the curfew," said the judge, adding that it seemed to him that the people of Cootehill could go to England "willy nilly". Judge MacBride issued a bench warrant, but warned that "where people have failed on bail, they will get no bail on the second occasion".