The Belfast Telegraph
Thursday 7 May 2015
By Paul Higgins
Paddy Mallon, of Mallon Solicitors, faces two charges of perverting the course of justice
A solicitor, charged alongside a priest with perverting justice, is to argue to have the case thrown out of court, a judge heard.
Committal proceedings were due to take place at Dungannon Magistrates Court, potentially sending the case against 54-year-old solicitor Patrick Mallon and Father Joseph John Quinn (48) to the Crown Court for trial, but that was adjourned again after Mallon’s solicitor Aidan Quinn revealed he would be launching an abuse of process application.
The committal was initially due at the beginning of March.
Yesterday Mr Quinn told District Judge John Meehan the application would be “on two limbs” but did not expand on them, asking instead for two weeks to lodge skeleton arguments.
Dungannon-based solicitor Mallon, from Upper Parklands, and Fr Quinn, from Ardmore Park in Coalisland, each face two charges of perverting the course of justice in that they allegedly attempted to pressurise or persuade witnesses to withdraw statements made to police between February 1 and 15, 2012.
Mr Quinn has declared to previous courts that his client is “both shocked and angry to have received PE papers and fully expects to be exonerated” and has labelled the PPS review of the case as “flawed and defective”
Although the alleged facts relating to the offences have yet to be outlined, the solicitor identified one issue to be whether three complainants whom Mallon previously acted for, will waive their right to solicitor-client confidentiality.
After defence barrister Des Fahy asked for an extended period “to give it my full attention,” Judge Meehan granted four weeks to allow for skeleton arguments to be lodged for the abuse of process application and said he would hear submissions at the end of next month.
A solicitor for Fr Quinn told the court the issues relating to Mallon’s case “do not pertain” to the priest.
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Dungannon solicitor and Coalisland priest charged with perverting the course of justice
Tyrone Times (N. Ireland)
16:16Wednesday 08 April 2015
Paddy Mallon
A Dungannon solicitor and Coalisland priest who are co-accused of two counts of perverting the course of justice will return to court in May.
The charges against Patrick Mallon, 54, from Upper Parklands, and Joseph John Quinn, 48, from Ardmore Park, relate to an alleged attempt to pressurise or persuade witnesses to withdraw statements made to police between February 1 and 15 2012.
My client would like to say that he is both shocked and angry to have received PE papers and fully expects to be exonerated
Mr Aidan Quinn, defending Mr Mallon, told the court that he was not in a position to proceed with a preliminary enquiry in the case.
He said that he had been in correspondence with the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) since the middle of February about the review over the decision to prosecute.
“I have made further representations based on the contents of their response,” Mr Quinn told the court, “but I do not find myself in a position to advise my client.”
He informed the court that legal professional privilege – whereby it is the duty of a solicitor to keep the affairs of their clients confidential – made it impossible for him to advise his client on how to proceed “as the privilege can only be waived by his clients, not by Mr Mallon”.
Mr Quinn went on to call the PPS review “flawed and defective”.
District Judge John Meehan adjourned the case aginst both men until May 6.
“The matter is in the public domain now,” Mr Quinn added. “My client would like to say that he is both shocked and angry to have received PE papers and fully expects to be exonerated.”
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Priest got schoolgirl pregnant’
The Belfast Telegraph
21 March 2010
Father Joseph Quinn was investigated by police for allegedly fathering the child of a 16-year-old in the late 1990s
The crisis-hit Catholic Church faces TWO new scandals today.
We reveal how a Tyrone priest at the centre of a schoolgirl rape scandal was investigated by police for allegedly fathering the child of a 16-year-old in the late 1990s.
However, the girl did not want to proceed with a case against Fr Joseph Quinn, who paid another alleged victim £45,000. He has previously been cleared on sex charges and denies all wrongdoing.Today another Catholic bishop, Bishop Joseph Duffy of Clogher Diocese, also admits he put children at risk by failing to inform police about a paedophile priest.
He now accepts he should have told police back in 1989 about allegations of abuse against Enniskillen priest Fr John McCabe — SIX years before he eventually appeared in court on abuse charges.
Very strange. Both the priest abd his lawyer facing charges of pervertying the course of justice, probably the equal of obstructing justice. But the why of the charges is a mystery.
I went hunting to see if I could find anything which might make sense of this. I did find an article from 2010 which references a rape scandal investigation in which Father Quinn allegedly fathered the child of a 16-year-old in the late ’90s. The girl did not want to proceed with charges and Father Quinn allegedly ” paid another alleged victim £45,000.”
Is that what this is about? Or, is there something else afoot?