Three women students alleged to have engaged in violent altercations over two days and who were expelled from Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) have had their expulsions quashed by the High Court.
The three women brought cases to overturn their expulsions from the institute over four alleged fights – three on campus and one off campus – that occurred between January 30th and 31st last year.
The three High Court actions were brought by Margaret Eyong Taku, Wendy Briggs and Christina Igweze, who alleged their punishment was disproportionate, that alternative sanctions were not described to them as having been considered and that no reason was given by the college for their expulsion.
The allegations were that the three were involved in aggressive physical altercations with each other over the two days, which allegedly involved Ms Briggs having her head stepped on, the use of a wet floor warning sign and the pulling out of weaved hair.
In February 2024, a committee recommended that all three be expelled from the college and banned from its campus and grounds. The following April, an appeals committee considered and rejected all three appeals.
Before their expulsion, Ms Taku, from Tinnamona, Callan, Co Kilkenny and Ms Igweze of Knightsgate Avenue, Rush, Co Dublin, were undergraduate students on the college’s Bachelor of Science in Mental Health Nursing course.
Ms Briggs, from North Road, Drogheda, Co Louth, was an undergraduate student on the college’s Bachelor of Science in Bioscience programme.
At the High Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Anthony Barr remitted the matter back to a differently constituted appeals committee at the college for “fresh consideration”, noting that the three students are at a “significant” time both in their education and careers.
Mr Justice Barr noted that should any appeal be lodged, the three students could possibly miss out on a total of two years’ education at DKIT.
It had been submitted to the court that Ms Igweze and Ms Taku had been “bullied” by Ms Briggs and that a canteen altercation took place where a chair had been kicked.
The alleged incident then spilled into the corridor where Ms Briggs, it is claimed, attacked Ms Taku.
Mr Justice Barr said that it had been submitted to the court that there was a reference to a male connected to Ms Briggs who was described in papers as “a bodyguard” and told the other two women that he knew where they lived. The two women took this to be a threat and then decided to go back to the college to “sort it out”.
When the two returned to the college after 5pm on January 30th, 2024, an alleged second incident occurred in a corridor resulting in Ms Briggs fleeing the area.
The next day there was an alleged third incident of a “serious fight”, said the judge, that was recorded by onlookers in a hospitality corridor at DKIT, during which Ms Briggs allegedly grabbed a woman student and hit her head against the wall.
Michael J Howard SC, for DKIT, said that in one of the alleged incidents in the college, Ms Taku had her hair weaves ripped off, which resulted in Ms Briggs being allegedly attacked with a floor sign until the college chef separated them.
Mr Howard had said that there was then a fourth, arranged fight that took place behind a local shop off-campus, where Ms Briggs allegedly had her head stamped on.
