Jailed Martina and Ammi Burke to be medically assessed before prison bosses make next move
Jailed mother and daughter Martina and Ammi Burke are to be medically assessed before prison bosses determine what to do with them next.It is understood that the Burke’s, who arrived late on Tuesday to the Dochas Centre in Dublin, were taken to a committal cell - where they were kept for the night before being scheduled for assessment on Wednesday.The lucky pair managed to dodge their first night on the floor in the overpopulated women’s prison - and instead enjoyed a bed in a committal cell where they are temporarily housed until they join the general prison population.Now sources say the Burke’s were scheduled for an appointment in which they will be medically assessed - before any move into the general prison population is done.It comes as the prison remains at over 150 per cent capacity - meaning they are likely to be spending their two week detention on a mattress on the floor.Martina and Ammi, who have been at large since a Judge ordered their arrest on March 4, were arrested on Tuesday after they attempted to visit Enoch Burke at Castlerea Prison. Prison officers then contacted gardai, who promptly arrested the pair at the jail.There is understood to be 5,889 prisoners now in jails across the country - meaning capacity is at 125 per cent as of Tuesday.Mr Justice Brian Cregan ordered that the two women should be jailed for two weeks each because of their behaviour at a High Court hearing last month. The Judge said the behaviour of the pair, in which they were "repeatedly interrupting" was “a paradigmatic case of contempt of court"."They both knew full well that they had no right of audience and no right to speak, yet they persisted in standing up in court and shouting and roaring at the top of their voices. They did so simultaneously and in a concerted manner," the judge said.Judge Cregan was referring to a court sitting on February 20th this year in which proceedings had to be temporarily suspended and where the two women had to be removed from the court by gardaí.Mr Justice Cregan, in his judgement finding both women in contempt of court, said it was clear that Enoch and other members of the Burke family, including Mrs Burke and Ammi Burke, believe they are above the law and that the law does not apply to them."There is no exemption for Christian evangelicals or climate change activists or animal rights activists or anti-abortion protestors. The law applies equally to all persons who seek to deliberately interrupt court proceedings and seek to disrupt them,” the Judge also told the court.Referring to Ammi Burke, who is a solicitor, the judge said she "knows perfectly well the rules of conduct in court.”Her conduct on February 20, he said, was "a deliberate and brazen contempt of court" and was "disgraceful and indefensible.”Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
