Retired District Judge Michael Pattwell recalls the case of a man convicted of sexually assaulting his granddaughter’s friend when both children were visiting him at home. A priest entered the witness ...

A criminal barrister has defended the use of character references in defence of convicted criminals. The issue has been at the centre of debate after character references were offered in defence of ...

Giving a character reference in a criminal case is not an error of judgment, a leading barrister has said, in response to controversy surrounding the sentencing of ...

‘I thought my head had been knocked clean off my shoulders,’ said victim Phelim O'Reilly at Ennis Court on Friday. An Independent TD provided a written character reference to court for a man who ...

Sunday Times journalist David Walsh has defended his decision to write a character reference for Tom Humphries, the former Irish Times journalist convicted of grooming a teenage girl to engage in ...