The High Court has determined that teacher Enoch Burke was lawfully transferred from Mountjoy Prison to Castlerea Prison earlier this month.
Mr Burke had contested the move, arguing that the order committing him to custody in January specifically named Mountjoy, reports RTE.
The court heard last week that prison officials decided to relocate Mr Burke after his enhanced prisoner status was revoked due to his conduct, leaving him unable to be safely accommodated within the general prison population.
It was stated in court that his enhanced status had been withdrawn בעקבות his behaviour during an escorted court appearance, reports RTE.
Mr Burke has been imprisoned since January for contempt of court after refusing to comply with an order directing him to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School.
Altogether, he has spent more than 600 days in custody since September 2022 for declining to commit to not trespassing on the school grounds, reports RTE.
He maintained that the legislation cited by the prison service to justify his transfer did not apply in his situation, as his case was civil rather than criminal and he was not serving a formal sentence.
In his ruling this morning, Mr Justice Brian Cregan said Mr Burke had been ordered by a court to be detained in a prison. Even though he had been committed for civil contempt, the judge said he was a prisoner and legislation governing prisons applied to him. He said he was satisfied that he had been lawfully transferred from Mountjoy, reports RTE.
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The judge noted that Mr Burke had argued in court that judicial orders are inviolable and must be followed by all, while at the same time he remained incarcerated for refusing to comply with one.
He said Mr Burke’s position was that “everyone must obey court orders except him”. The order preventing him from trespassing was a lawful directive of the High Court, and it was not for Mr Burke to determine whether it was lawful or not, reports RTE.
The judge said such determinations are matters for the High Court, Court of Appeal, or Supreme Court.
Mr Justice Cregan said Mr Burke may not like a court order or may not agree with it, but he had to obey it. He added that he was satisfied that Mr Burke knew full well the reason why he was in prison but still insisted on putting forward false reasons, reports RTE.
He said it may suit Mr Burke’s political campaign against transgenderism – to pretend to the outside world and to his followers that he was in prison for his religious beliefs, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The court was not requiring him to “bend the knee to transgenderism”, as Mr Burke had claimed, but simply to obey the order, reports RTE.
The judge added that Mr Burke effectively held the “keys to his own prison cell” and could attend court at any time from Castlerea to purge his contempt.
The judge awarded the costs of the application against Mr Burke. Mr Burke argued no order should be made awarding costs against him – he said he had been moved with no warning and no notice. And he said prison authorities at the highest level had not been able to tell him whether or not the transfer was lawful, reports RTE.
However, the judge described Mr Burke’s submission that he had not brought a formal motion before the court and that the court itself had “nursed” the application to court as ridiculous, and made the costs order sought by lawyers for the prison service.
The case is due to be reviewed again by the court next month, reports RTE.
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