The State (Woods) v The Governor of Portlaoise Prison

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date01 January 1974
Date01 January 1974
CourtHigh Court
(H.C.)
The State (Woods)
and
The Governor of Portlaoise Prison

Sentence to be suspended after thirty - six months if accused of good behaviour - Mistaken release of prisoner on habeas corpus - Re-arrest and imprisonment of prisoner - Expiration of thirty - six months -Whether sentence to be suspended.

The prosecutor in habeas corpus proceedings had been sentenced in 1967 to seven years penal servitude but the trial judge had directed that if and when the prosecutor should have completed thirty-six months of that sentence and should have complied with prison discipline the trial judge would suspend the balance of the sentence upon the prosecutor entering into a bond to keep the peace for the remainder of the sentence. In 1968 the prosecutor was released by the High Court in habeas corpus proceedings but the order of the High Court was set aside on appeal to the Supreme Court. The prosecutor was imprisoned again in 1971, and in 1973 he obtained in the High Court a...

To continue reading

Request your trial
4 cases
  • DPP v Murphy
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 20 November 2000
    ...to run without cessation and could not be stopped from running by any court. The State (Woods) v. Governor of Portlaoise Prison (1973) 108 I.L.T.R. 54 followed. 2. That this was so notwithstanding the release of a prisoner during the currency of a term of penal servitude which had been impo......
  • Freeman v Governor of Wheatfield Place of Detention
    • Ireland
    • Court of Appeal (Ireland)
    • 16 November 2016
    ...on which there is, it might be thought, surprisingly little authority. While it is clear that, as Ó Briain J. said in The State (Woods) v. Governor of Portlaoise Prison (1973) 108 I.L.T.R. 54, 57, a sentence of penal servitude ‘once commenced continues to run without cessation’ and that it ......
  • Patrick Joseph Mcdonagh v Governor of Mountjoy Prison
    • Ireland
    • Court of Appeal (Ireland)
    • 20 March 2015
    ...surprisingly little authority. While it is clear that, as Ó Briain J. said in The State (Woods) v. Governor of Portlaoise Prison (1973) 108 I.L.T.R. 54, 57, a sentence of penal servitude "once commenced continues to run without cessation" and that it "cannot be stopped from running by any c......
  • State (Langan) v Donoghue
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 5 April 1974
    ...in the judgment or order of the High Court. Griffin J. :— I agree. 1 [1966] I.R. 501. 2 [1970] I.R. 271. 3 [1972] I.R. 159, 168. 4 (1973) 108 I.L.T.R. 54. 5 See p. 254, ...

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT