A number of high-profile criminal appeals may have to be re-heard because High Court judge Mr. Justice Michael Hanna is seriously ill.
Cases affected include convicted killer Brian Rattigan, sex attacker Anthony Lyons and the 'singing priest' child sex abuser Tony Walsh.
Chief Justice Susan Denham announced Mr. Justice Hanna's illness at the Court of Criminal Appeal this morning.
She informed those in court that he would probably require a lengthy convalescence.
The judge was a member of the court in a number of high profile appeals that remain undecided and which may now have to be heard again.
Cases include Brian Rattigan's latest challenge to his murder conviction, and a sentence appeal by 'singing priest' sex abuser Tony Walsh.
Another high profile case that may be affected is the successful challenge by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to the undue leniency of the six months jail sentence imposed on sex attacker Anthony Lyons.
The court, comprising Mr. Justice Hanna, had yet to impose a new sentence on the businessman.
Pictured above: Mr. Justice Michael Hanna
