In the Irish Courts
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835702100310 |
| Published date | 01 July 1957 |
| Date | 01 July 1957 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
In the Irish Courts
HIGH
COURT
IN
EIRE
THE
NATURE OF A WARRANT
Blythe &Rossi v. Bell
THE prosecutors for a writ of habeas corpusin Blythe &Rossi
v. Bell (90
l.L.T.R.
143)
supported
their
application by
an affidavit in which
they
stated
that
they
were Englishmen
ordinarily resident in
London,
but
that
after
they
had
resided
in
Dublin
for
three
weeks
they
were arrested in a public house
in
Donnybrook
by four or five
armed
men.
They
were taken
to
Dublin
Castle
and
detained in
the
custody of an
Irish
police
sergeant,
but
were confronted by a
man
in plain clothes who
told
them
that
he was an English policeman
and
that
they
were
being arrested for a crime which
had
been
committed
in
England.
They
had been arrested on
the
foot of two warrants
issued in
London
by a Metropolitan Magistrate on information
on
oath
and
backed in Eire
under
the
Petty
Sessions (Ireland)
Act, 185!.
The
applicants conceded
that
if
the
warrants were
properly issued
and
backed, their detention
under
such
warrants was lawful: The State (Duggan) v. Tapley
(195
2,
l.R.
62).
In
the
circumstances, it proved impossible to
sustain an allegation
that
the
warrants had not been properly
backed or
had
not been properly executed, so
that
the
net
question eventually resolved itself into
that
of
the
validity of
the
warrants as issued.
The
objection taken to
the
warrants
was
that
the
arrested
men
had not been
named
therein,
but
had
been described (albeit in somewhat general terms).
Rossi was described as
"a
man
aged between 30-35 years,
5 ft. 6 in., well-built, dark
hair";
and
Blythe as
"a
man
between
40-45 years, 5 ft., hair brown,
thinning
alittle in
front".
The
affidavit filed on behalf of
the
police added
that
the
warrants had been accompanied by photographs
and
that
257
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