Cost of fishing prosecution queried in Glenties court

The cost of prosecutions by the State-run Inland Fisheries was queried today by a solicitor who said legal aid only allowed a defendant less than half of that to present his case.
Defence solicitor Paudge Dorrian criticised  a demand by Inland Fisheries for prosecution costs of €750 when Michael Furey pleaded guilty to two fishing offences.
Mr Dorrian told Glenties District Court that he couldn’t understand why the prosecution could claim €750 when all the defence was allowed on legal aid from the State was €280.
Furey, a small farmer in his mid-50s from Strassallagh, Glenties, admitted illegal fishing in the area on September 3, 2010, on the Owenea River, catching a salmon and a sea trout.
Judge Paul Kelly fined him a total of €200 on two charges. He allowed €100 of the prosecution costs and ordered Furey to pay €650 towards them as the case had been in court five times.