Enoch Burke sues newspaper publishers for defamation

Jailed teacher Enoch Burke has told the High Court that a newspaper article claiming he was annoying other prisoners with his religious beliefs was “pure invention” and “completely without foundation”.

Mr Burke also described his first days in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin and said fellow inmates had welcomed and supported him.

They recognised him from television, he added, with one bringing him a gift of biscuits and popcorn.

In an opening statement, in his defamation action against the publishers of the Sunday Independent, Mr Burke said claims in the article that he was in danger of being beaten and had to be moved because he was repeatedly expressing his religious beliefs while in prison were untrue.

The action is against Mediahuis Ireland, publishers of the Sunday Independent, over an article on 9 October 2022 during his first period in jail for contempt of court.

The publisher denies defamation and will plead fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest.

Mr Burke is being detained in Mountjoy Prison for his refusal to comply with court orders not to attend Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath which dismissed him over what he said was standing up for his religious beliefs over transgenderism.

His appeal against his dismissal is pending. The defamation case is being heard by a judge sitting alone rather than before a judge and jury.

Article published ‘maliciously and with recklessness’

Mr Burke told the court he never had any issues with his fellow prisoners and yet the story was “circulated to millions” and on social media which “triggered a storm of damaging posts” about him that continues to this day.

As a result, he said, he was classed as someone to shun and avoid and his ability as a teacher was derided and subjected to widespread ridicule and public odium.

Mr Burke said the “sting of the libel is that my normal pattern of life is to vex unbearably the people I live and work with on a daily basis by the relentless expression of my personal and religious views and that I am unfit to be a teacher”.

The defendants, he added, had right from the beginning denied his reputation had been injured and refused to acknowledge any damage whatsoever.

Mr Burke said the article was published “maliciously and with recklessness as to whether it was true or untrue and was preceded by a “scurrilous article written by the same journalist, Ali Bracken”.

He said the article falsely portrayed him as a pariah in the community and was particularly hurtful to him as a teacher who was “accomplished, valued and well respected”.

Mr Burke told the judge that he had worked all his life in education, his qualifications were impeccable and he was held in high esteem by students, parents and the wider community.

He said the libel struck at the core of who he was and his personal attributes of “honour, empathy and integrity”.

The defendants, Mr Burke said, were seeking to continue their attack on his character and reputation by equating his court cases seeking equal treatment to the base libel.

He said the article was published maliciously and is seeking punitive and aggravated damages.

Mr Burke went on to tell the court in evidence of his employment history and said he is a teacher at Wilson’s Hospital School.

He outlined a number of achievements and accomplishments in his employment and read some letters sent to him from parents and students before outlining what he believed was the sequence of events leading up to his imprisonment.

Mr Burke described his first day in prison when his clothes were taken from him and he was issued with the standard “grey jog pants and red polo shirt” and a plastic bag of “cheap toiletries and toothbrush”.

He arrived on a committal landing, he added, not knowing what to expect. He was placed in a “dark and dirty cell” with a blue mattress adding: “You had to put the linen on yourself”.

Mr Burke said “the next thing” a few other inmates arrived at the door and said “they recognised me from the telly and were saying “great stuff’ and ‘keep the head up” and “we totally agree with you, you should not be in here”.

One thing that struck him and blew him away, he said, was that one prisoner he had never met before or since had left biscuits and popcorn at his cell door.

Mr Burke described it as a nice gesture at the end of a very traumatic day and said things continued in that way from that moment on and the kindness, generosity and goodwill of prisoners never stopped.

He was given tennis shoes and free hair cuts by his fellow prisoners who would often ask him for his sugar because he did not eat sugar.

“I have never had a bad word said to me in Mountjoy and to this day have never had a hand laid on me. I have been treated with goodwill and respect because I have empathy for them.”

Mr Burke said an article published in the Sunday Independent quoted prison sources saying he had been placed on an enhanced wing and that he was mixing with mainly model prisoners. He described this as “complete bunkum, totally untrue and complete fiction”.

He remained on the committal landing for a month, he said, and the article was “complete and utter rubbish” and also included a “trampish attack on my family”.

Mr Bruke said a later article was published in the Sunday Independent on 9 October with the headline “Burke moved to new jail cell as he in annoying other prisoners”.

He said the article said he had to be moved from the main prison back to the progression landing for his own safety because of his outspoken views.

This was completely and utterly false in every part, Mr Burke said, and the defendants were “selling a lie about me to the public and making money out of destruction of my character”.

Mr Burke added that “it was going out that I was badgering people in an enclosed space, badgering them and buttonholing them until they were losing their head. It’s the most grievous thing you can conceive of”.

When he went into Mountjoy Prison, he said, he knew he was going to a place where people were traumatised and he needed to be cautious and sensitive and if “anything it was a time to listen to people”.

Mr Burke said the article was shared to millions and he was subjected to widespread ridicule as a result.

Some comments on social media said “can folks imagine what his students had to put up with” and “those poor kids”. This was particularly hurtful, he said, as it suggested the students in his care had suffered and it was deeply humiliating and offensive.

Mr Burke said the sting of this was that people were thinking he was unfit to be a teacher. This was professionally devastating, and was deeply damaging, he added.

Other comments said “imagine being locked up with Enoch Burke, you’d beg the warden for solitary confinement”.

He said his personal and professional reputation had sank so low that people were commenting that he was unbearable to be around.

Mr Burke outlined several social media posts which he said were as a direct result of the article, many comments from professionals and lawers which were ridiculing him.

Senior Counsel for Mediahuis Ronan Lupton pointed out to the judge that the defendants were not responsible for any social media commentary.

Mr Burke said the article was cruel and destroyed his hopes as he had dedicated his life to education.

He said he was to some extent a public figure because he had taken a stand on his constitutional rights and was linked in the minds of people with taking a stand based on principle.

That was a good thing, Mr Burke added, and he had been congratulated on it but the article denigrated it and turned it into a subject of public odium.

He said that an apology was published but it was very small and “buried on the inside” of the Sunday Independent more than two months later and was inadequate.

The case continues.