Judge 'concerned' at lack of progress in case involving Derry MP Colum Eastwood and four others
A judge at Derry Magistrates' Court has said that the court is becoming 'concerned' at the lack of progress being made in the case involving Foyle MP Colum Eastwood and four other defendants.
Mr Eastwood (42) of Duncreggan Road, Goretti Horgan (70) of Westland Avenue, Davina Pulis (36) of Knoxhill Park, Robert Paul Maxwell (60) of Rathlin Drive and Jude Coffey (27) of Gartan Square, all in Derry, are charged with taking part in an illegal procession on February 14, 2024 in support of Palestine.
At today's sitting, barrister for Mr Eastwood, Joe Brolly asked for an adjournment to allow senior counsel to be briefed in the case.
He said if a date in September could be set there 'could be a clear path for the court'.
A prosecutor said that they would like to consider representations from the defence, but as yet they had only received those representations from the defence teams for Pulis and Horgan.
She said that the prosecution would need to have all the representations before proceeding.
District Judge Conor Heaney said that the case had been ongoing for four months and there still had been no progress.
He said it was 'regretful' that the representations from the defence were not all with the PPS at this stage.
The judge said he wanted to see demonstrable progress in respect of the representations and adjourned the case until September 2.
None of the defendants were in court for the hearing, although there was a small demonstration outside the courthouse in support of the defendants with Palestinian flags being displayed.