Marian Price fails in attempt to get charges dropped
An attempt by Marian McGlinchey, also known as Price, to have a prosecution against her thrown out of court in Londonderry because of undue delay, has been dismissed.
Ms McGlinchey is charged with addressing a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation in Derry in 2011.
District Judge Barney McElholm said he found no evidence of abuse of process,
He fixed a preliminary date for her next court appearance on 21 November.
58-year-old Ms McGlinchey, of no fixed abode, remains ill in the City Hospital in Belfast following a deterioration in her physical and mental well-being.
She is accused of addressing a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation in the City cemetery in Derry on April 25 of last year.
At the meeting she was filmed holding a piece of paper for a masked man who issued threats against Catholic police officers.
When Ms McGlinchey appeared in court in May 2011 charged with the offence she was released on bail by District Judge Barney McElholm.
However, the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, subsequently revoked her licence and she was put into custody in Hydebank Wood prison.
Ms McGlinchey's solicitor Peter Corrigan told Mr McElholm that his client had been examined by two prison doctors and by a United Nations doctor, all of whom agreed she was unfit to stand trial because of her deteriorating medical condition.
Opposing the application, prosecution barrister, Terence Mooney QC, said any delay in the proceedings against Ms McGlinchey had not been caused by the prosecution.
He also said there was no independent medical evidence of Ms McGlinchey's health before the court.
Refusing the application, Mr Elholm said while he was not questioning the credibility or integrity of the three doctors who examined Ms McGlinchey, or Ms McGlinchey herself, he found no evidence of an abuse of process.
He fixed a preliminary inquiry date for Ms McGlinchey's next court appearance for 21 November.