Late Athlone judge was deeply interested in all facets of life

As the sitting district court judge in Athlone for more than a decade, Seamus Hughes presided over countless thousands of cases. One of the qualities for which he will be remembered was the keen interest he took in the people before him from all walks of life.

He had an agile mind and an ability to quickly distil a case down to its basic components. He also had an innate sense of fairness and decency, and was always inclined to offer defendants an opportunity to overcome past indiscretions.

His approach as a judge reflected the view that justice should be done and should be seen to be done. He was positively disposed toward press reporting of court sittings, and would only approve an application for a reporting restriction on a case if there was a compelling reason why it should be granted.

It was also helpful to journalists that he was highly quotable on a consistent basis. He attracted his fair share of headlines for colourful and occasionally controversial comments from the bench, and also for the unusual 'punishments' he imposed on certain defendants.

Prior to his appointment to the Midlands in 2011, the novel way he handled a public order case was covered by the national media.

A man who had called a Garda a "Mayo w**ker" was ordered by Judge Hughes to climb Croagh Patrick as a mark of respect for his fellow Irish people, especially those in the line of duty.

"I want you to come back in a month's time with evidence that you did the four stations of Croagh Patrick and said a few prayers. You then might have a different impression of County Mayo and its people," he told the 38-year-old defendant.

The man subsequently raised almost €3,000 for charity when he completed the Croagh Patrick hike with 13 friends.

Judge Hughes took a similarly novel approach to some cases in Athlone. A 19-year-old who had abused a Garda and spat on a squad car was instructed by the judge to wash the squad car once a week for several months.

After being told that a man who was before him in Athlone for a theft offence was an artist, Judge Hughes ordered the defendant to do an artist's painting of the courtroom, focusing in particular on the practitioners of the court.

The artist put in "over 30 hours" of work on the piece. When it was handed in, the case was struck out.

The judge was a firm believer in the value of hard work, and a juvenile who came before him at one stage was told to cut up logs and deliver a trailer load to the Society of St Vincent De Paul.

In 2012, Judge Hughes was criticised for comments he made in a case involving a Traveller who had threatened to damage a neighbour's house by breaking its windows and setting fire to it.

"They are like Neanderthal men living in the long grass, abiding by the laws of the jungle," the judge said during the case, a remark which was condemned by the Traveller lobby group Pavee Point

The destruction caused by drugs - particularly heroin - was a topic on which he was always outspoken.

"The toughest possible action needs to be taken against the 'drug lords' who are supplying heroin in this town. They should be hounded out of the place," he said during one case involving a teenage heroin addict.

During another court sitting, the judge said many speeding prosecutions in Athlone were "like shooting fish in a barrel," and he suggested that the speed limit be increased to 140 km per hour on local motorways.

"You have the finest roads here in Athlone provided, I presume, by Mary O'Rourke or someone like her, and yet you have speed limits of 100km. It's ridiculous. It's only a means of collecting revenue," he said.

Defendants who were before the court for minor offences were often given a chance to avoid a conviction if they made a 'court poor box' donation.

Judge Hughes said at the end of last year that, since his appointment in 2011, over €2.5 million had been distributed from the court poor box to worthy organisations and causes in Westmeath and Longford.

May he rest in peace.