Byline: Paul Caffrey
A LEADING criminal lawyer faces a legal bill of up to E300,000 after losing his slander action against the Garda. John Devane, who has acted for a string of notorious Limerick gangland figures, claimed he was falsely labelled a paedophile after playing Santa at a school Christmas party.
The solicitor said he was the subject of a witch-hunt and was Whimsical Replica left ‘devastated’ by allegations that he assaulted a special-needs child.
His case hinged on a claim that he was slandered when a senior garda advised his ex-girlfriend Alison Carty that if she or her infant daughter ever had ‘any problems’ with John Devane, to ‘come to us’.
But yesterday a High Court jury of eight women and four men rejected the claim after deliberating for two-and-a-half hours. Trial judge Mr Justice Eamon De Valera ordered the lawyer to pay the entire costs of the seven-day case immediately – and told Mr Devane that he had pursued his lawsuit against the Garda in a ’shameful’ fashion.
On Wednesday, Judge De Valera had thrown out Mr Devane’s suit for unlawful detention, relating to gardai taking him in for questioning over the sexual Replica Chanel assault allegations.
Yesterday, explaining his decision to land Mr Devane with the entire legal bill for the case, Judge De Valera said: ‘I am taking into account that the allegation of wrongful imprisonment was maintained at all times. I found in law that didn’t stand up. I have already indicated that confers no credit on Mr Devane. It is shameful.’ The jury action was the first under the Defamation Act 2009, which gives judges greater power to advise juries on the level of damages they might award.
The issue came to the fore last June when PR consultant Monica Leech was awarded E1.8million by a jury after suing Independent Newspapers for libel.
Yesterday’s verdict came after Judge De Valera told the jury: ‘If there has been a slander in this case, it hasn’t affected his reputation in Limerick one whit.
‘If the question of damages arises, in my view, you will be considering nominal or trivial damages.’ The judge added: ‘Mr Devane clearly has issues with some of the guards. If he has a problem, this is not the forum to air that problem.’ Last night, Mr Devane declared he had won a ‘moral victory’, after learning during the case that he will not face sex-assault charges.
He added: ‘I certainly think my family, my wife and my two kids, are now going to be able to hold their heads up high again. If it took this case to get my name cleared completely, in the open, then I’m happy. ‘That Gucci Fake for me is worth the cost of having to bring this case to court.’
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‘Moral victory’: John Devane
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