MARTINA AND AMMI Burke are to be jailed for two weeks for contempt of court after interrupting a case involving Enoch Burke last month.

High Court Judge Brian Cregan found the pair in contempt after they were physically removed from his courtroom last month by gardaí during the hearing of a case brought by Enoch Burke.

Martin and Ammi Burke were not in court today to hear the decision, but the judge has made an order for their committal.

The judge initiated contempt hearings because of what he called Martina and Ammi’s “repeated shouting” during the hearing on Friday 20 February.

In a 30-page judgment issued this morning, Judge Cregan said the pair’s interruptions were a “paradigmatic case of contempt of court” and that repeatedly asking them to stop and having them removed by gardaí had not worked.

He said it was clear that members of the Burke family, including Enoch, Ammi and Martina, believed “that they are above the law and that the law does not apply to them”.

“There comes a time when the court must then move to consider contempt of court proceedings against them,” Judge Cregan said.

“That time is long overdue.”

He also said it was “long past time for the court to call a halt to this family circus” and that he would consider making an order that Martina Burke, Ammi Burke and Isaac Burke could only attend future hearings remotely.

The judge further said the behaviour of Ammi Burke was “disgraceful and indefensible” because she is a trained solicitor, and he said he would contact a disciplinary committee in the Law Society so it could consider whether she should be sanctioned.