Judge reinstates legal aid to Laois woman who travelled abroad for 'butt lift'
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A 32-YEAR-old woman whose free legal aid was revoked after Portlaoise District Court heard that she had travelled abroad for cosmetic surgery returned to court last week seeking to have the aid reinstated.
The matter first came before the court on 3 November last year when the defendant was charged with the theft of a supersonic hairdryer valued at €200 from Fletcher’s Hardware, Main Street, Portarlington, allegedly committed on 2 January 2025.
At that hearing, solicitor Aonghus McCarthy was successful in being approved free legal aid for his client when he informed the court that his client was in receipt of a One-Parent Family Payment.
An email had been sent to the court by Mr McCarthy’s office on 13 July with an attached referral letter to the midlands regional hospital in Tullamore, which disclosed that the accused had undergone cosmetic surgery abroad on 2 July, including a tummy tuck, liposuction and a butt lift.
Considering this information, the court adjourned the matter to 20 July specifically to address the issue of legal aid.
On 20 July, Mr McCarthy’s office furnished a medical certificate indicating that his client was unfit to attend court until 2 August.
On that date, Judge Andrew Cody said that despite a solicitor from Mr McCarrthy’s office being present in court that morning, he was not present when his client’s case was called in the afternoon. He said he was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the accused had failed to disclose her full financial circumstances when applying for legal aid and discharged the free legal aid certificate from Mr McCarthy.
He also said that there was nothing preventing the woman from applying to revisit the issue of legal aid upon production of evidence explaining her financial circumstances at the time of the original application and addressing the matters which led to the discharge of the certificate.
The free legal aid application was adjourned to 8 October and Judge Cody requested that the accused’s bank statements from March to July this year be produced. On that date, a solicitor from Mr McCarthy’s office, Robert Murphy, submitted bank statements from his client to the court.
However, Judge Cody noted: “It says there are 77 pages to this statement, but 30 pages are missing from April to July.” He said that if he didn’t get the full statements by 15 October, he would refuse the application for free legal aid.” When the case was back before the court last week, Mr Murphy handed in the missing bank statement pages, which he told Judge Cody that most of the entries related to his client’s One-Parent Family payments.
Mr Murphy said that his reading of his client’s bank statements led him to believe that she would qualify for a free legal aid certificate.
After taking some time to study the bank statements, Judge Cody, agreeing with Mr Murphy, said: “There’s nothing in her accounts that would suggest that she would not be entitled to free legal aid, so I am reinstating it.” *The case of the alleged theft, which the accused has pleaded not guilty to, had already been adjourned to 10 November for a full hearing.
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