Solicitor shoots judge in court
18 September 2009
An Irish solicitor is buffing up his CV after making the career-limiting move of shooting a judge in court.

Judge John Neilan was hearing a Family Law case in Longford District Court on Tuesday when a solicitor accidentally shot him with an air pistol. It's not entirely clear why the pistol was being exhibited, or why it was loaded, or how the solicitor managed so accurately to target the judge. But the Longford Leader reports that the hard-as-nails judge was not seriously injured, and just dusted himself down and continued as normal.

I shot the sheriff

Judge Neilan has some superb form. He's famous for his no nonsense pronouncements, and earlier this year he gave a man seven days jail to "learn some manners" after he talked in his courtroom.

A spokesman for the Irish Court Service said that it was unable to comment on Family Law cases.