Jobstown protesters found not guilty

Six men were recently found not guilty for falsely imprisoning Tánaiste Joan Burton and her adviser Karen O’Connell during a 2014 water charges protest.  The men Paul Murphy, Michael Murphy, Kieran Mahon, Schott Masterson, Frank Donaghy, and Michael Banks have all been on trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for around two months, and the maximum charge they faced was lifetime imprisonment.  

The men were accused of purposely trapping Tánaiste Joan Burton and her adviser in a car for over three hours after protests broke out around them after they had attended a graduation for An Cosán in Jobstown.  

The jury of seven men and four women came back after three hours of discussion with a unanimous decision that the six men are found to be not guilty.  After the judge revealed the verdict of the trial, there were several cheers from the supporters in the crowd.