Traveller group calls on Athlone judge to resign

The Traveller lobby group Pavee Point has called on Judge Seamus Hughes to resign over comments he made during a case at Athlone District Court last week.In a statement issued yesterday, the group described the comments as "prehistoric" and said Judge Hughes was "bringing the judicial system into disrepute."The case in question involved Martin Stokes (21) of 5 Corkhill, Kinnegad, who admitted threatening to set fire to the home of a former neighbour of his in Monksland, Athlone, last May.During the case, the judge said: "We usually know our neighbours and generally we know who 'has form' and who doesn't. Mr Stokes' neighbours would know that he has considerable form."Nobody has indicated it to me, but I suspect he comes from a certain ethnic background that would give him even more form given the type of behaviour in which some of them engage."As I've described it before, they are like Neanderthal men living in the long grass, abiding by the laws of the jungle."Pavee Point condemned the judge's comments, saying: "They reflect a prehistoric mindset that has no place in modern Irish society."The group added: "It's difficult to see how Travellers would have confidence that they could get a fair trial in Judge Hughes' court based on these comments. He should resign with immediate effect as he is bringing the judicial system into disrepute."