Enoch Burke outside Wilson's Hospital School in January of this year Alamy Stock Photo
BreakingHigh Court
A judge also ordered that the family’s car should be sequestered.
ENOCH BURKE HAS been ordered back to prison for a sixth time after the High Court found that he has again breached an order to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School.
Judge Brian Cregan today ordered Burke’s immediate arrest and committal to Mountjoy Prison, and separately ordered the seizure of a car used to bring him to the Co Westmeath school.
Burke did not attend the hearing, either in person or remotely. Counsel for the school’s board of management told the court that he was instead in the school’s reception area this afternoon.
Burke has already spent more than 700 days in prison across five periods of imprisonment for contempt of court since 2022.
He was most recently released on 1 July because the school year had ended, without agreeing to stay away from the school. A permanent injunction preventing him from entering its grounds without the board’s consent remained in place.
Today, the High Court heard that Burke had repeatedly entered the grounds since the new term began, often waiting for a security guard to take a break before doing so.
The school is paying €1,200 a week for security and said staff had to ensure Burke did not move beyond reception.
Judge Cregan described Burke’s conduct as “provocative and confrontational” and said there had been “18 deliberate breaches of the High Court order” for him not to trespass at the school.
He criticised Burke for waiting until the guard took a break before entering, saying: “It’s hard to think of anything more ignoble on the part of a teacher.”
In an affidavit, Burke claimed the injunction was unlawful and cited ongoing legal challenges concerning his case.
However, Cregan said those proceedings did not justify refusing the school’s application. He reiterated that Burke was being imprisoned for breaching a court order, rather than his religious beliefs.
The judge also allowed the Burkes to respond to the car sequestration order on 24 hours’ notice.