Burke may again be jailed if he breaches court orders, High Court hears
In a ruling delivered electronically on day 107 of Mr Burke’s imprisonment, Mr Justice O’Moore said this was not a “unique” case but one of the “very rare” cases where the coercive imprisonment should stop, “at least for the moment”.
On motivation, he said Mr Burke’s continued jailing would only facilitate whatever he feels he is currently achieving in prison. He was an “ordinary teacher” in a Westmeath school before he was jailed, is now a “household name” and his imprisonment had played a central part in this.Several key decisions by Mr Burke during the litigation were “illogical”, he found, including his view the court orders require him to act in a manner inconsistent with his religious belief.
There is a “complete stand-off” between the school and Mr Burke as the school disciplinary proceedings were paused, the judge said, adding that Mr Burke had delayed court proceedings, was refusing to purge his contempt and will not leave prison until vindicated “by some higher court”. Mr Burke was to be released “as soon as that can practicably be done” and would remain at liberty unless and until any further court order is made imprisoning him.
Mr Justice O’Moore heard submissions earlier on Wednesday concerning the possibility of releasing Mr Burke in light of the school holidays.
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