Delay of more than a year in the case against convicted sex offender Gary Smith leads to Craigavon judge refusing to remand him

Gary Steven Smith, aged 38, of Damhead Road, Moira, didn’t appear before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Friday to face the charge of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) on January 6 last year.

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The charge accuses Smith of sending a social media message to a female under the age of 18 – an act he was prohibited from doing as he was subject of the SOPO.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan, when asked by Smith’s lawyer if he remembered the case, said: “Yes, it’s the TikTok case.”

The lawyer also pointed out that the district judge issued a warning as his client has been in custody for a year and one month.

A prosecutor revealed the PSNI checked the phone application on February 12 and it is showing as ‘pending’, adding: "Once it is actually accepted it then goes to an outside agency where no timescale is available.”

She asked for a four-week adjournment for an update on the timescale. She added the case has been reviewed by a detective in the Offender Investigation Unit.

Smith’s lawyer said it was “not satisfactory” as it was a year and one month “down the line”. He pointed out that the district judge had “referenced” issuing a McAleenan Warning and did issue the warning on the last occasion.

A McAleenan Warning is a formal, high-level judicial notice used in NI courts to compel the prosecution to meet specific deadlines for producing case papers, especially when there have been significant, unexplained delays.

"I have to say I am not satisfied at all with the update that has been given. Every four weeks we have been told the application is pending and no timeframe can be given," said the lawyer.

“I am inviting the court to dismiss the case and allow the prosecution or the police to conduct their investigation and further the file, if they need to do so, at their leisure which seems to have been the case for the past year and a bit,” he said.

District Judge Ranaghan noted Smith had one breach of a SOPO in 2020 which was dealt with summarily.

"I think, despite this man’s record, this matter will be dealt with summarily as well. Even if it were not, the sentence already served is one of two years and three months which is towards the maximum he might achieve in the Crown Court for a sentence where the maximum is five years.

"So taking all that into account, the warning was given, the warning stands and I am abiding by that warning today. We simply cannot allow things to drift.

"I appreciate there are resource issues but it’s wrong, wrong in principle, wrong in practice and somebody needs to look at it. Whether that is expenditure on more resources, I don’t know,” said the district judge.

"I am refusing to remand Mr Smith again today. The matter can go by way of report,” he said.

That means the case is being withdrawn from the current court list to be sent to the PPS to be re-issued later by way of a report.