A 38-year old County Clare man was today returned for trial in relation to the unlawful possession of 36 videos and 77 images of child pornography.
At Ennis District Court today, Judge Alec Gabbett returned the man for trial to the current sittings of Ennis Circuit Court.
Judge Gabbett made the return after Garda Emmet Roche gave evidence of serving the Book of Evidence in the case on Wednesday morning.
In the case, the man is charged with at his Clare home on September 18th 2022 having in his possession the 36 videos and 77 images of child pornography as defined by Section 2 of the Child Trafficking and Porn Act 1998.
The charge is contrary to Section 6 of the Child Trafficking and Porn Act 1998.
Judge Gabbett told the man that if an alibi forms any part of his defence, his solicitor, John Casey was to inform the State within 14 days.
Judge Gabbett said that an alibi probably doesn’t apply in such a case.
Solicitor, John Casey for the accused applied for legal aid and Judge Gabbett granted legal aid for Mr Casey and a barrister to represent the accused in the circuit court.
Judge Gabbett made no order that reporting restrictions be lifted.
When the case first came before the court last month, Judge Gabbett ruled that reporting restrictions be in place for now as the images contain minors “but I am not entirely sure that it is merited”.
Judge Gabbett said that the vigilante issue in such cases had to be considered when parties are identified “but that is out of my control”.
Sgt John Burke told the court at the time: “The accused wouldn’t know the alleged victim as such and I don’t know if reporting restrictions apply.”
Judge Gabbett remanded the accused on existing bail terms to appear at the current sessions of Ennis Circuit Court.
