The Garda Ombudsman has been granted access to backup audio recordings of what was described as a “melee” at a court hearing involving Enoch Burke.

On March 7 last year, he and a number of his family members were removed from court after the judges left due to repeated interruptions.

Enoch, his parents, Sean and Martina; brothers Isaac and Simeon; and his sister Ammi, were all removed from the Court of Appeal hearing in March of last year.

Simeon was arrested and went on to be prosecuted for a public order offence.

He and Ammi subsequently made complaints to GSOC over their treatment by Gardai.

As part of its investigation, the Garda watchdog applied to the court for the backup audio system, which continued to record after the judges had left the room.

Enoch objected to their application, claiming the so-called ambient recordings amounted to “covert surveillance” which breached his right to privacy.

However, in a lengthy judgement, the court rejected all of his arguments.

Mr. J John Edwards said Enoch had shown no evidence to back up his claims.

Enoch told him he was appalled by the decision before getting confirmation that he too would be given access to the recordings.